According to a press release published by the United States Attorney’s office for the eastern district of Michigan, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Detroit Field Office, with assistance from the Virtual Currency Response Team (VCRT), the Cyber Police Department and Main Investigation Departments of the National Police of Ukraine, and the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine conducted coordinated, court-authorized activity involving nine virtual currency exchange services.
Domain names offered by organizations that were engaged in cryptocurrency conversions and provided assistance to cyber-criminals were seized, and related servers were shut down. U.S.-based servers used in the scheme were taken offline by U.S. authorities. These nine seized domains, 24xbtc.com, 100btc.pro, pridechange.com, 101crypta.com, uxbtc.com, trust-exchange.org, bitcoin24.exchange, paybtc.pro, and owl.gold offered anonymous cryptocurrency exchange services to website visitors.
As per the release, the non-compliant virtual currency exchanges, which have a lenient anti-money laundering program or collect minimal Know Your Customer information, serve as important hubs in the cybercrime ecosystem and are operating in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Sections 1960 and 1956. It is important to note that the above-mentioned violation includes aspects related to the laundering of monetary instruments. KYC refers to the process of verifying the identity of a customer or client, typically for financial institutions or businesses that engage in financial transactions. KYC procedures are designed to prevent identity theft, financial fraud, money laundering, and terrorist financing.
It is important to note that, Many of these services are advertised on online forums dedicated to discussing KYC refers to the process of verifying the identity of a customer or client, typically for financial institutions or businesses that engage in financial transactions. KYC procedures are designed to prevent identity theft, financial fraud, money laundering, and terrorist financing. criminal activity. By providing these services, the virtual currency exchanges knowingly support the criminal activities of their clients and become co-conspirators in criminal schemes.
The languages in which the services were provided were English and Russian. Also, the criminal activity occurring at the affected exchanges involved cyber actors responsible for ransomware.
Such frauds related to cryptocurrencies and related digital assets are the major impediments to the establishment and implementation of a well-established crypto ecosystem; these frauds further led to incidents of money laundering and terror financing. Thus, a well-drafted rulebook by intergovernmental organizations such as the International Monetary Fund can eliminate the issue to a certain extent. Further, countries across the globe can make laws for regulation.
