Eliyahu Gigi, a 31-year-old from Tel Aviv, has been charged with stealing over $1.7 billion in a variety of cryptocurrencies. Gigi allegedly stole Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Dash (DASH) from users in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Lawyer Yeela Harel of the cyber department in the State Attorney's Office filed charges against Gigi on July 17, according to a report published the same day by Israeli business outlet Globes. Gigi has reportedly been charged with crimes including theft, fraud, and money laundering, among others. According to the report, Harel’s indictment claims that Gigi set up a network of scam …
A Bitcoin (BTC) trader has been attacked in his home in the Netherlands by a group of robbers disguised as the police, local news outlet De Telegraaf reported on Feb. 23. A 38-year Tjeerd H. was reportedly the victim of a violent raid in his home in Drouwenerveen on Feb. 10, wherein a group of criminals wearing balaclavas and bulletproof vests with a police coat threatened him with firearms. While the motive of the raid is not clearly established, De Telegraaf conducted their own investigation revealing that H. had been trading cryptocurrency. De Telegraaf notes in the report that sources …
A Dutch court has ruled that Facebook must remove Bitcoin (BTC)-related fraudulent investment ads following local billionaire and television producer John de Mol’s lawsuit against the company, Reuters reported on Nov. 11. De Mol initiated judicial proceedings against the social media giant in June 2019, claiming that Facebook failed to respond to multiple requests to remove ads of a scam that misused his and other celebrities’ images and eventually resulted in the loss of 1.7 million euros ($1.8 million) by investors. The ruling, fine and Facebook’s stance Following de Mol’s claim, a Dutch court ruled that Facebook must pull the …
Crypto terrorists threatened to bomb a government office on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. They told authorities that they would only disable the alleged explosive device if their crypto ransom was paid. According to FNN, the terrorists sent the Numata Town Hall an email stating they had installed a bomb in a women’s second-floor toilet. They claimed that as long as officials met their payment demands before 03:00 UTC on June 29, the bomb would not be detonated. However, this appears to have been a fake threat. The deadline set by the criminals has passed and the hall remains intact …
South Korean watchdog the Financial Services Commission (FSC) has urged lawmakers to hasten their approval of the country’s first cryptocurrency bill, Bloomberg reports July 26. Hong Seong-ki, head of the FSC’s virtual currency response team, has reportedly warned of the security and money laundering risks courted by the country’s domestic crypto exchanges. Bloomberg cites Seong-ki as saying that: “While crypto markets have seen rapid growth, such trading platforms don’t seem to be well-enough prepared in terms of security. We’re trying to legislate the most urgent and important things first, aiming for money-laundering prevention [AML] and investor protection. The bill should …