This year has yielded significant price action for Bitcoin (BTC), both to the upside and to the downside. Some now argue that the recent price movement is due to big players selling their stakes and flooding the market. As Cointelegraph reported on Aug. 18, the alleged PlusToken scam was thought to have moved over $240 million of proceeds in BTC, according to a tweet posted by Whale Alert, an account that flags large crypto transactions. Meanwhile, recently published data from Crypto Twitter analyst Ergo shows that the current sell-off in the market is possibly due to the liquidation of 200,000 …

The national police force of New Zealand have seized between NZ$6.2 and NZ$6.7 million in cryptocurrency from a man who allegedly was involved in online movie piracy in the United States. Two accounts of the seizure At 5:00 AM local time, on Nov. 23, the New Zealand Herald reported that New Zealand police had restrained around NZ$6.7 million (USD$4.2 million) in cryptocurrencies and NZ$1.1 million (USD$700,000) in bank funds under the Criminal Proceeds Recovery Act (CPRA) from the 31-year old software programmer, allegedly Jaron David McIvor. An hour later, authorities released a press statement claiming that they had seized $6.2 …

A Manhattan federal jury has found lawyer Mark S. Scott guilty of helping OneCoin co-founder and current fugitive Ruja Ignatova launder $400 million. On Nov. 21, Law360 reported that the Manhattan jury of six women and six men decided to hand down a guilty verdict to Scott, a former partner at law firm Locke Lord who was suspected of being paid $50 million to launder $400 million for Ignatova, also known as the “cryptoqueen.” Claim of innocence was rejected The jury did not buy Scott's claim that he had no knowledge that OneCoin was a scam and that he was …

United States prosecutors told a Manhattan jury that lawyer Mark S. Scott was paid $50 million to help OneCoin co-founder and current fugitive Ruja Ignatova launder $400 million. On Nov. 20, Law360 reported that the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office and the New York County district attorney's office are in the last phase of prosecuting Scott, a former partner at law firm Locke Lord, who allegedly received $50 million to launder a whopping $400 million for Ignatova, also known as the “cryptoqueen.” Crypto scam raised $4.4 billion OneCoin is among the crypto industry’s most infamous exit scams. However, the Bulgaria-based firm …

Maksim Zaslavskiy, a computer programmer from Brooklyn and the first person in the United States to be convicted of running a fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO) has been sentenced to a year and a half behind bars. As Law360 reported on Nov. 18, the Brooklyn businessman received a prison sentence of 18 months for running two scam ICO’s, both of which were advertised as being backed by collateral — diamonds and real estate, respectively — that did not exist. Zaslavskiy pleaded guilty in November 2018 to conspiracy to commit securities fraud. More than 1,000 investors duped Zaslavskiy made it seem …

The world is a constantly changing place — and from an economic standpoint, things are dramatically shifting, too. Two major superpowers, the United States and China, are embroiled in a dramatic trade war where tit-for-tat tariffs have been placed on goods — breeding uncertainty for consumers and businesses alike and making everyday products more expensive. The United Kingdom is still embroiled in a messy divorce from the European Union, and Russia is ratcheting up tensions with its neighbors in the West. All of this geopolitical drama has two effects. Firstly, it can wreak havoc on the markets, wiping billions of …

The United States Department of Justice has arrested and charged two Massachusetts men for allegedly taking over victims’ social media accounts and stealing cryptocurrency. According to the announcement on Nov. 14, the two — Eric Meiggs and Declan Harrington — were charged with one count of conspiracy, eight counts of wire fraud, one count of computer fraud and abuse and one count of aggravated identity theft. Attempt to steal over $550,000 in crypto The Massachusetts residents were allegedly targeting executives of cryptocurrency companies thought to own significant amounts of cryptocurrency and have high-value social media accounts. Meiggs and Harrington allegedly …

The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) has issued a cease and desist order to Karatbit Foundation to immediately stop unauthorized business in Germany. BaFin alleges that Karatbit Foundation is issuing the KaratGoldCoin (KBC) without the necessary license, according to a Nov. 11 announcement. Karatbit describes itself as a provider of a blockchain-based payment system that enables users to conduct transactions with gold, as well as trade gold with cryptocurrencies. The company claims that over 500,000 acceptance points around the world and ten crypto exchanges support trading of gold and gold products for KBC. Absence of the necessary licence and …

The millionaire game developer, Marc Merril, was a victim of the Singaporean man who stole identities to utilize Amazon Web Services’ and Google cloud computing power for crypto mining. A case of stolen identity In a recently unsealed court filing on Nov. 7, Forbes discovered that Marc Merrill, the co-founder of Riot Games, was the previously anonymous victim of Singaporian national Matthew Ho’s identity theft scheme. Riot Games is most famous as the developer behind the massively successful League of Legends. Ho allegedly used Merrill’s American Express credit card information to buy cloud computing power from Amazon, and Google, amongst …

A Dubai-based Canadian expat has been arrested for peddling an allegedly fraudulent “Sharia-compliant” cryptocurrency and a host of other get-rich-quick schemes. As Gulf News reported on Oct. 30, Aziz “Com” Mirza had cultivated for himself a reputation as an entrepreneur, mentor and Instagram influencer. He now sits in Al Awir jail after a complaint was filed with the Dubai Police by a UAE resident allegedly defrauded of $150,000 in one of Com’s schemes. The “Bitcoin of the Middle East” Com targeted a global audience, including retail investors from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Greece. In just one of …

How can payment fraud be avoided? Introducing better verification measures can go a long way to protecting consumers. Amazon and eBay are often held up as good examples of how transactions should be handled in the wider economy. These sites often deliver impartial reviews based on the past activities of buyers and sellers, meaning it is easier for consumers to find someone reputable. Measures are also in place to protect both parties if a transaction doesn’t go to plan. A multitrader marketplace called Kuverit is aiming to bring this to the crypto and fiat world alike. The company claims it …

SIM swapping victim Michael Terpin wrote an open letter to the United States Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai. In his letter, posted by Coindesk on Oct. 21, Terpin requested that the regulator take decisive action against SIM swapping and end this type of fraud. Terpin proposes to force all U.S. mobile carriers to hide customer pins and passwords from employees and oblige them to inform its customers that they can opt-in to carrier high-security plans, which must include a “no port” option, meaning that a consumer would have the choice to go through the fraud department before the …