Thai Police Arrest Suspect in $24 Million Bitcoin Scam

Thai police have detained 27-year old actor Jiratpisit "Boom" Jaravijit in an alleged $24 million cryptocurrency scam, Bangkok Post reported August 9.

Jiratpisit is reportedly one of the seven suspects in the alleged crime, including his older brother and sister. On July 26, the Criminal Court awarded a warrant for his arrest following a complaint from a Finnish man that he had fraudulently lured foreigners into investing 797 million baht (nearly $24 million) worth of cryptocurrencies. Jiratpisit has been detained on charges of money-laundering activity, which he denies.

The alleged cybercrooks reportedly promised to purchase shares in companies that invested in the cryptocurrency Dragon Coin. According to the Bangkok Post, investors did not receive dividends from their supposed investment or an invitation to a shareholders’ meeting. The Crime Suppression Division states that the criminals withdrew BTC from their e-wallets and then converted it to baht.

Earlier this week, South Korean police raided the office Shinil Group, whose alleged crypto scam promised investors the spoils of Russian warship Dmitrii Donskoi, that sank 113 years ago. To encourage investors to purchase the company’s own cryptocurrency, Shinil allegedly promised to reimburse them with the gold from the ship. The coin reportedly attracted 60 billion won ($53.7 million) in investments from around 100,000 investors since its launch this year. However, there is no clear evidence that the ship contained anything of value.

Recently, Tokyo-based security software manufacturer Trend Micro found BTC automated teller machine (ATM) malware available for purchase online. Trend Micro cites an advertisement posted by an “apparently established and respected” user on a darknet forum. For the price of $25,000, criminals could purchase Bitcoin ATM malware accompanied by a ready-to-use card with EMV and near-field communication (NFC) capabilities.