The U.S. filed criminal charges against Russian national Artem Lifshits for his management of an affiliate of the infamous Internet Research Agency, which U.S. authorities accuse of interfering in the 2016 election. The new complaint alleges that Lifshits has managed the translator department of Project Lakhta since 2017, in which capacity he illegally obtained U.S. identification documents in order to use "the means of identification of United States persons to open bank accounts, PayPal accounts, and cryptocurrency accounts." The charge is conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The U.S. Department of Justice says these accounts were a means for Lifshits and …

Six of the 109 individuals recent arrested by Chinese authorities in connection with the $5.8 billion crypto Ponzi PlusToken have been charged. The defendants Chen Shaofeng, Luu Jianghua, Lu Jianghua, Lu Qinghai, Jin Xinghai, Wang Yin, and Zhang Qin were charged by prosecutors in Xiangshui County and Yancheng City on September 7. The authorities said they were “suspected in organizing and leading criminal pyramid schemes.” 109 individuals suspected of involvement with PlusToken were arrested in late July, including 27 persons believed to be the scam’s executives along with 82 “key” promoters. The accused ringleader of the scheme was also arrested …

Financial institutions worldwide have reported 134,500 suspicious transactions concerning virtual currencies in the past two years — but that’s just the tip of the iceberg according to a report published by blockchain forensics firm CipherTrace. The report says the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has seen a major increase in suspicious transaction reports from institutions since publishing its May 2019 Advisory on Illicit Activity Involving Convertible Virtual Currency (CVC). Despite this, CipherTrace asserts that many financial institutions have developed inadequate “home-grown” systems for identifying cryptocurrency-related accounts and transactions, that simply use lists of the names of crypto exchanges and virtual …

A major suspect in a high-profile theft case related to Bitcoin (BTC) trading has pleaded guilty in a Singaporean court. Syed Mokhtar Syed Yusope, an accomplice in a $360,000 robbery, pleaded guilty in a district court to a robbery charge on Sept. 9, Singeporean news agency The Straits Times reports. Mokhtar, alongside his two accomplices, Jaromel Gee Ming Li and Mohd Abdul Rahman Mohamad, stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from a Malaysian man in Singapore. Pretending to represent a Bitcoin broker, the group duped the victim into believing that they wanted to sell him Bitcoin for cash. …

A securities regulator in the United States, the Texas State Securities Board (TSSB), has detected another batch of alleged cryptocurrency scams. On Sept. 3, Texas Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles entered an Emergency Cease and Desist Order against two alleged crypto scam schemes known as Forex Birds and PEK Universe. The published order names Kumar Babu Bondesi and Darwin Eric Balusek as the alleged operators of the schemes. According to the TSSB, Balusek is also known under the nickname “Bitcoin Pope.” Operating abroad, the respondents are accused of fraudulent securities offerings tied to foreign exchange (forex) and cryptocurrencies, the authority …

With online payments company Wirecard undergoing insolvency proceedings this month, mainstream financial services like VISA, PayPal, and Mastercard are rushing to fill the digital payments void, and be one of the first to offer crypto payment cards, stated experts in the crypto industry. During an interview with Cointelegraph, Jerry Chan, CEO of blockchain service provider TAAL, and Rod Hsu, President & Co-Founder of virtual currency platform Coincurve, both agreed that the competition could be just what the industry needs to shift the way that digital currencies are being used as a method of payment or technology. But Chan goes beyond …

A supply chain forum featuring local experts and government officials has advocated using blockchain technology to fight the $1.7 billion worth of food fraud annually harming Australia's primary sector. Blockchain Australia deputy chair Rob Allen moderated the online panel discussion on Sept. 4 discussing use-cases for blockchain within the supply chain sector to an audience of more than 150 attendees. Allen set the scene by stating that verifying the authenticity of produce claiming to be Australian-made in local and overseas markets is one of the largest challenges facing the country's agricultural industry. Australia is a major exporter of produce, National …

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned John Louis Anthony Bigatton, the former ‘Australian National Representative’ of the multi-billion-dollar crypto Ponzi scheme BitConnect, from providing financial services for seven years. ASIC asserts that the New South Wales resident provided unlicensed financial product advice and engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct while working for BitConnect from August 2017 through January 2018. While an investigation is still ongoing, the regulator has found that: “Mr. Bigatton is not a fit and proper person to provide financial services: is not adequately trained, or is not competent, to provide a financial service or …

The Colombian police have issued a warning about fraudsters promoting a Bitcoin scam website to social media users. The “announcement” about the launch of a fake Bitcoin-related investment system was purportedly “approved” by Ivan Duque, President of Colombia. According to Colombia Check, quoting a statement by the Cybernetic Police Center, the site promotes a Bitcoin investment opportunity (BTC) that Duque is quoted as saying will offer “relief to the economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.” The post claims that the president signed “the biggest deal of the century” to create a platform named Bitcoin Era, and citizens could start …

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has teamed up with privacy-centric blockchain-powered cloud computing developers Oasis Labs to fight fraud in the crypto sector. Oasis was announced as the inaugural member and primary infrastructure provider for the Binance-led CryptoSafe Alliance on August 27. Oasis Labs’ “confidential smart contracts” will be utilized in building the decentralized CryptoSafe Platform which is designed to share threat intelligence data among crypto exchanges. The CryptoSafe Platform will be powered by the Oasis Network blockchain. The firms emphasize the need for the platform to enable collaborative fraud detection while ensuring that the data of participating exchanges …

Following the theft and repayment of $900,000 in Bitcoin (BTC), Shapeshift is now pursuing damages in court against its former senior software engineer, Azamat Mukhiddinov. "There was significant time lost and legal costs associated with the clean-up," Shapeshift's chief legal officer, Veronica McGregor, told Cointelegraph, noting that customer funds were safe throughout the ordeal. "ShapeShift is non-custodial, so no customer funds were ever at risk," she said. Working in a high level position for Shapeshift, Mukhiddinov allegedly used his access to the exchange's backend to steal roughly 90 BTC, worth nearly $900,000 in May 2020 at the time of the …

The South Korea-based CEO and executive director of a bogus crypto exchange have been jailed by a branch of the Supreme Court in Seoul for their roles in fraudulent trading activity on their platform. As reported by local media outlet Blockinpress, both executives from a trading platform called Komid had their appeals shot down by the court. One will serve three years, the other will serve two. Choi and Park, whose first names aren’t being disclosed by law enforcement, are accused of fabricating trading volume data for fake trades conducted on their platform. Doing so boosts reputation among the crypto …