Recent research has revealed that Eastern Europe remains a very high source of cybercrime activity — both from perpetrators of scams and users of darknet markets — in the cryptocurrency sector. Cryptocurrency addresses based in the Eastern European region have the second-highest exposure to illicit activity after Africa, according to a report published today by blockchain research firm Chainalysis. However, Eastern Europe has a much larger overall crypto economy than both Africa and Latin America (which came in third). The findings echo research carried out last year. The research analyzed the illicit share of cryptocurrency activity by region between July …

Glenn Arcaro, former director and promoter of the notorious BitConnect Ponzi scheme, has pled guilty to fraud charges related to his role in the now-defunct crypto exchange and lending platform. He has been ordered to pay back $24 million to investors. In a parallel action in the long-running saga, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission has charged BitConnect, its founder, Satish Kumbhani, former director Arcaro, and Future Money Ltd. for the scheme. The defendants are accused of running a fraudulent, unregistered securities offering that netted $2 billion. The latest developments come three years after BitConnect shut down its lending …

Nonfungible token collector Pransky was duped out of 97.67 Ether, worth $341,500, after the website of popular artist Banksy was hijacked to promote a fake NFT auction. However, almost all of the money has since been refunded. On Aug. 31, Pransky spotted a page on Banksy’s official website promoting an NFT auction on the popular marketplace, OpenSea. Despite voicing his misgiving as to the authenticity of the token, Pranksy opted to participate in the auction and increased the highest bid by 87 Ether ($304,500) to almost 100 ETH. It seems to be hosted on https://t.co/J8U3TmR3gE? So could be genuine, one …

Investment scams in Australia cost investors more than 70 million Australian dollars ($50.5 million) in the first six months of 2021, with crypto scams contributing to more than 50% of the losses, according to Scamwatch data. As reported by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Scamwatch data shows a 53.4% increase in investment scam-related reports, which is set to exceed $101 million by the end of this year. Based on the 4,763 reports received in 2021 alone, ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard stated that 2,240 of the complaints were related to cryptocurrency scams and mainly attributed to Bitcoin (BTC). …

Australian crypto influencer and Nuggets News founder Alex Saunders is facing backlash over his nonfungible token (NFT) sale from late last year. Nuggets News is a paid group providing technical analysis and crypto tips to subscribers that was founded by Saunders in 2017. As of Tuesday, Nuggets News had roughly 146,000 subscribers on YouTube. In November 2020, Saunders minted 100 NFTs comprising tokenized tickets he said would grant holders access to an exclusive Nuggets News community headquarters being developed in the crypto-powered virtual metaverse Decentraland. Saunders priced the NFTs at 1 Ether (ETH) each, worth around $570 at the time. …

A new report from Chainalysis has found that while China’s share of global criminal crypto flows has been falling since the third quarter of 2019, the country still represents a disproportionate amount of money laundering and scam activity. In its Aug. 3 “Cryptocurrency and China” report, Chainalysis stated that more than $2.2 billion worth of crypto had been sent from Chinese wallets to addresses associated with illicit activity between April 2019 and June 2021. Chinese addresses also received more than $2 billion worth of digital assets tied to nefarious activity such as scams and darknet marketplaces. Despite this, the report …

Alex Saunders, the popular crypto influencer behind Nuggets News, is facing a slew of claims he failed to repay crypto loans, along with allegations that funds invested in a new project had been redirected to a crypto exchange. Saunders is one of the most highly regarded Australian crypto educators. He provides a paid service and has 140,000 subscribers on YouTube. Over recent days, Crypto Twitter has been ablaze with allegations that Saunders has run out of capital. Numerous individuals, including YouTuber BitBoy, claim that Saunders personally owes them multiple Bitcoin (BTC) each, prompting investigations from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) …

Four men have reportedly been arrested in Japan's Aichi Prefecture for running an allegedly fraudulent crypto investment scheme that persuaded investors they could reap returns on the basis of an artificial intelligence (AI)-led trading system. Roughly 20,000 Japanese investors nationwide are thought to have been drawn into the scheme, which raised an estimated total of 6 billion yen ($55 million). The four suspects: Shoji Ishida, Yukihiro Yamashita, Takuya Hashiyada, and Masamichi Toshima, were arrested on July 12, according to Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun. The alleged scam, dubbed the "Oz Project" promised that the automated, AI-based system would result in investors …

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is nearing settlements with four U.S.-based individuals accused of promoting the multi-billion dollar crypto Ponzi scheme, BitConnect. According to Law360, the terms of the settlements are currently awaiting final approval from Judge John Koeltl. The judge noted that while agreements’ terms are currently legally sound, minor fixes are needed to be made to ensure they are “scrupulously accurate.” The agreements include a more than $3 million settlement from Joshua Heppensen of Massachusetts and $576,000 from his fiancee Laura Mascola, $526,000 from Ryan Maasen of Oklahoma, and an unspecified amount from Michael Noble of …

Self-described “Bitcoin King” Claudio Oliveira has been arrested and charged by Brazilian federal police for allegedly masterminding a 1.5-billion reals (roughly $300 million) fraud scheme involving crypto. Oliveira served as the president of Bitcoin Banco Group, a Brazilian crypto brokerage firm that has been under investigation since 2019 claiming to have lost 7,000 Bitcoin (BTC) in investor funds. According to a rough translation of a Monday press release, federal police from the Curitiba Metropolitan Region served Oliveira and other members of Bitcoin Banco Group with one preventive arrest warrant, four temporary arrest warrants, and 22 search-and-seizure warrants. Bitcoin Banco Group …

Raees Cajee, the co-founder of South African crypto investment platform AfriCrypt, has denied claims that he and his brother ran off with billions in investor funds, asserting the platform lost $5 million in a hack. Last week, Cointelegraph reported that AfriCrypt — an asset manager purporting to offer daily returns of up to 10% that launched in 2019 — had been accused of disappearing with 69,000 BTC of investor funds in a mysterious exploit. While AfriCrypt had notified users of the hack on April 13, suspicions were immediately raised as the message urged investors to avoid taking legal action as …

Los Angeles-based rapper The Game, also known as Jayceon Taylor, is facing a $12 million judgment for his role in Paragon Coin Inc — a crypto firm alleged to have engaged in an unregistered initial coin offering (ICO) four years ago. Taylor publicly endorsed the Paragon Coin ICO on social media back in 2017. Paragon touted its PRG tokens as a currency for the cannabis industry and raised $70 million from the public between April 15, 2017, and Oct. 15, 2017. Plaintiffs’ first filed a complaint against the offering in 2018, however, Tyler was initially let off the hook as …