Per an Aug. 13 announcement from the United States Department of Justice, the authorities have seized millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency from over 300 accounts. The announcement does not specify the specific amount, but does identify the operation as the largest to target terrorist funding in cryptocurrency. A wide range of agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the IRS were involved in the campaign. The campaign shut down several websites and Facebook pages that either overtly or, in the case of one fraudulent site selling medical masks, covertly gathered funds for terrorist operations. According to …

After a lengthy joint investigation with the American FBI, German police have seized over 25 millions euros worth of cryptocurrency associated with the illegal movie streaming site movie2k.to. Shuttered in spring 2013 due to copyright infringement concerns, the site’s two main operators are accused of having distributed over 880,000 pirated copies of films, together with their accomplices, via the site between fall 2018 and spring 2013. They have been charged with operating an illegal streaming service, which enabled users to watch pirated films without downloading them. One of the two, who worked as the site’s programmer, has been in police …

During an Aug. 4 panel on legal compliance within the cryptocurrency industry, major figures noted recent shifts in public perception of the industry, pointing to arrests within weeks of the Twitter hack as an example of how effective blockchain analytics can be for solving crime. The panel is part of an ongoing series from the Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists. Twitter and law enforcement Lana Schwartzmann, chief compliance officer for Paxful, said regarding the Twitter hack “It’s quite amazing how different this is from what we’d see in the traditional fiat world. You’d never have this resolved so quickly.” …

Chinese police have reportedly arrested a group of scammers who launched a faux crypto scheme to recoup their losses after being defrauded by a number of different crypto-related cons themselves. According to an article from the Public Information Network Security Supervision Bureau posted on WeChat earlier today, an investor named Yang created a fake investment scheme after losing around 100,000 yuan (over $14,000) to a crypto MLM project. After teaming up with two other investors who had similarly been deceived by crypto scammers, Yang launched a fake mobile app and a token called "Baiye Chain". Their operation reportedly amassed more …

The story of PlusToken, one of the largest scams in the cryptocurrency industry, takes another twist as dozens of major suspects have been arrested. As many as 27 core PlusToken team members have been arrested by Chinese police, according to a July 30 report by local industry publication ChainNews. According to the report, the total amount of investor losses in the PlusToken scam is estimated at 40 billion Chinese yuan or $5.7 billion. The report also mentions that investigators have also arrested another 82 core members of the scheme. Dovey Wan, founding partner of blockchain-based investment company Primitive Ventures, tweeted …

The United States Army Criminal Investigation Division Command (USACIDC) is seeking a Software-as-as-Service web application to help them track and trace illicit cryptocurrency transactions. According to a statement of work published on July 10, the USACIDC along with the Major Cybercrime Unit and FBI will use the application to detect activities such as fraud, extortion and money laundering carried out using cryptocurrencies. The organization is taking bids for developed, tested and read-to-deploy web applications for the purpose till July 20. The application must allow multi-currency analysis As per the USACIDC — an arm of the U.S. Army that conducts criminal …

Law enforcement authorities throughout Europe arrested over 800 individuals that allegedly were using an encrypted chat network to coordinate their illicit activities. 60,000 members EncroChat was using modified Android devices to provide its users “worry free secure communications”. BBC reports that EncoChat has about 60,000 users: “An estimated 60,000 people, among them up to 10,000 in Britain, subscribed to France-based EncroChat, which has now been taken down.” Authorities allege that the criminals were using the encrypted messaging service to coordinate illegal activities like the sale of drugs and weapons. However, it is not clear whether they allege that all the …

Around 4,000 Chinese bank accounts of cryptocurrency traders have reportedly been frozen by local law enforcement. According to a report Monday by 8BTC, police froze the bank accounts of thousands of over-the-counter traders from the Chinese province of Guangdong. This purportedly comes as part of a wider investigation into illegal activities such as gambling and money laundering, which 8BTC states have been commonly facilitated by crypto OTC trading with the stablecoin Tether (USDT). Per the report, authorities started freezing the bank accounts on Thursday. One retail investor reportedly found his bank account frozen after buying cryptocurrency on a major, credible …

A think-tank spanning Indian law enforcement, academic institutions, startups, and research and development organizations has begun working to bolster India’s darknet policing capabilities. The initiative has seen roughly one dozen "problem statements" identified and informed by police and central agencies distributed among 120 academic and research institutions. The program is expected to produce a diverse range of potential solutions and strategies for expanding the deep web policing prowess of Indian law enforcement. India’s Narcotics Control Bureau has made numerous arrests targeting darknet narcotics and black market pharmaceutical syndicates in recent months following the agency’s participation in the global "Operation Trance" …

Chinese law enforcement discovered a Bitcoin (BTC) mining operation in what appeared to be multiple underground burial sites. Local English-language news outlet Beijing News reported on May 31 that law enforcement found an illicit mining operation in the northern Chinese city of Daqing. More precisely, the mining operation was located in what appeared to be two burial mounds in the surrounding fields. Mounds that housed the Bitcoin mining hardware. Source: Beijing News Bitcoin mining with stolen electricity Police decided to investigate the area after a local oil firm told law enforcement about unexplained power losses. The officers found an entrance …

New York City resident Vitalii Antonenko was charged for allegedly participating in a $94 million Bitcoins-for-cards scheme, according to a May 27 statement from the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts. He is now facing up to 20 years in jail and $500,000 in fines. Antonenko was arrested in March 2019 at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport after he arrived there from Ukraine carrying devices “that held hundreds of thousands of stolen payment card numbers”. According to the prosecution, the suspect and his co-conspirators used SQL injection attacks to extract payment card data from vulnerable …

An Australian woman was arrested by police at a Sydney shopping center on May 1 after allegedly selling Bitcoin (BTC) for 60,000 Australian dollars ($38,800) in cash. According to a report from Daily Mail Australia, the woman is accused of having run a money laundering syndicate in the country since 2017. Caught red-handed During the arrest of the 52-year-old, police seized AU$60,000 in cash, 3.8 BTC (worth $37,000 at current prices) and a mobile phone. Later, officers searched a nearby apartment, finding more mobile phones, computers and electronic storage devices, along with a further $11,700 worth of Bitcoin. The woman …