The South Korean Supreme Prosecutors' Office (SPO) has announced the establishment of a task force to fight cryptocurrency-related fraud and crimes. The development was reported by the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), one of the largest national public broadcasters, in an article published on Tuesday, March 5. The new task force will be responsible for the investigation — under the SPO’s authority — of fraud, illegal money laundering, crimes and other illegal activities within the fields of fintech and cryptocurrency. The decision to create a special task force is a response to the significantly increasing number of fraud cases and crimes …

In Japan, the number of hacked Internet of Things (IoT) devices and cryptocurrency networks nearly doubled in 2018 when compared to the previous year. English-language local media Asahi reported on March 7. Per the report, the Japanese Police Agency data shows that an average of 2,752.8 intrusions per sensor per day were detected last year, up 45 percent from the previous year. Furthermore, the data also reportedly shows that almost all of the attacks came from overseas. According to the article, if one considers only cryptocurrency networks and IoT devices, the data shows an average of 1,702.8 intrusions per sensor …

Big Four consulting and auditing company PwC has linked Iranian nationals behind Bitcoin (BTC) ransomware scheme SamSam to the crypto exchange WEX in a recent report published in February. The report is based on information that was previously disclosed by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ). As per the DOJ, two Iranians — Faramarz Shahi Savandi and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri — were responsible for creating SamSam. SamSam is a ransomware demanding Bitcoin that reportedly damaged multiple U.S. companies, government agencies, universities, and hospitals. Within 34 months the hackers managed to extort over $6 million in Bitcoin and cause …

Cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX probably stored a significant quantity of Ethereum (ETH) in other crypto exchanges, according to new evidence. This claim was made in a report published by crypto research and consulting platform ZeroNonCense on Feb. 28, which obtained corroborating information from Kraken CEO Jesse Powell and MyCrypto CEO Taylor Monahan. More precisely, the author of the report reportedly “believes that there is a very strong possibility” that nearly 650,000 ETH belonging to QuadrigaCX were stored on the Kraken, Bitfinex and Poloniex crypto exchanges during QuadrigaCX’s operations. The report claims that the fact that QuadrigaCX had accounts on all those …

Blockchain finance company Circle will use digital financial services company Nice Actimize’s market monitoring tools to fight manipulation, a press release confirmed on Feb. 27. Nice Actimize, which forms a branch of Israeli enterprise software giant Nice Ltd., offers professional client tools in the areas of financial crime, risk and compliance. Circle will use Actimize’s Cloud Markets Surveillance (CMS) to proactively prevent and detect malicious trading activity on its own platform, including insider trading, layering and even so-called pump and dump schemes. “Adapting innovative technology solutions, such as the financial markets compliance solutions from Nice Actimize, to meeting the potential …

Swiss cryptocurrency industry organization the Crypto Valley Association (CVA) is investigating allegations of foul play by one of its members after the platform closed down last month, CVA officials confirmed in a statement on Feb. 28. According to its website at press time, Blue Trading, also known as BlueTrading, shuttered investment services after what it described as a software malfunction, discovered Feb. 21, caused widespread losses of funds. At the same time, the platform’s owner, BluVenture Group Ltd., has faced considerable controversy over its legitimacy claims from international finance bodies. “The CVA has been approached by various persons regarding the …

Switzerland-based cryptocurrency bank Dukascopy has warned customers that forex trading company GCG Asia is fraudulently claiming to be the bank’s authorized firm in an announcement published on Feb. 27. In the announcement, Dukascopy Bank — purportedly the first regulated bank to launch its own initial coin offering (ICO) — cautions that neither it nor any entities of Dukascopy Group have relations with GCG Asia, although the latter fraudulently claims the opposite. The warning reads: “GCG Asia is fraudulently using Dukascopy's name and logo for attracting clients/investors, without Dukascopy Bank's permission. We are taking actions against this dishonest organisation.” In January, …

More than 7,000 cases of suspected money laundering tied to crypto were reported to Japanese police in 2018, a more than tenfold increase from the 669 cases over a nine month period during the previous year. The news was reported on Feb. 28 by local English-language daily The Japan Times. In 2017, just 669 cases were reported over a nine month period through December 2017, after new rules taking effect in April 2017 made it mandatory for crypto exchange operators to report transactions suspected to be tied to the movement of illicit funds. The twelve months and 7,096 cases in …

Hacked New Zealand cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia will reopen for business on Monday next week, officials confirmed on social media on Feb. 26. In a series of updates, Cryptopia revealed its two founders would be returning to the company to help spearhead operations following an overhaul of its structure. Police formally granted permission for trading to resume in mid-February, but a subsequent notice from staff implied it was not yet possible to begin processing users. This now appears to have changed. “We are aiming to have the Cryptopia site re-opened as read only by Monday,” one tweet reads. Hackers stole millions …

The New Zealand police have returned the office building back to recently hacked crypto exchange Cryptopia and granted permission to resume trading. However, the exchange is not ready to renew its activity, according to a message purportedly sent by a Cryptoptia staff member on the official Discord channel on Feb. 24. After the hack that led to more than $16.1 million stolen from the crypto exchange, New Zealand police had launched an investigation along with international law enforcement to track the hackers. The initial hacking attack began on Jan. 15 and reportedly lasted about two weeks, with funds removed from …

The United States’ law enforcement recovered and returned over $104,000 stolen from the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex, according to a Medium post by the exchange published on Feb. 25. The funds returned are reportedly just under 27.7 Bitcoins (BTC), which were stolen in August 2016 in a hack that involved the theft of around 120,000 BTC in total. At the time, Bitfinex reportedly generalized the losses across all accounts and credited BFX tokens, one per every dollar lost, to those affected by the hack. These tokens could be redeemed for one dollar each or exchanged for the company’s stocks. The holders …

Coinbin, the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange that took over hacked exchange Youbit, has filed for bankruptcy owing users almost $30 million, correspondence from the company confirmed on Feb. 20. Coinbin, which acquired Youbit in 2017, is closing operations as the result of embezzlement from a senior executive, local media including English-language resource Business Korea subsequently reported. “We are preparing to file for bankruptcy due to a rise in debt following an employee’s embezzlement,” the publication quoted CEO Park Chan-kyu as saying. According to available information, the figure in charge of cryptocurrency management is at the center of the scandal, having …