Tag Archives: Security & Ransomware

An Ohio native allegedly stole millions of dollars in bitcoin from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 31-year-old Gary Harmon has recently pled guilty to one count of wire fraud and a separate count of obstruction of justice after allegedly stealing more than 700 individual bitcoin units from the agency. Gary Harmon Pleads Guilty to Crypto Theft and Wire Fraud The bitcoins in question were taken by law enforcement agents from Gary’s brother Larry Harmon, who ran a...

Crypto crime was a big deal in 2022, and while we’re only a few weeks into 2023, it looks like the trend is continuing after a criminal gang crackdown that resulted in close to $2 million in assets – some of which were crypto units – being seized by law enforcement officials. Crypto Crime Takes on a New Form Two men have allegedly been arrested in New Zealand for taking part in various drug dealings. Police came barging into the home they were both living in and seized...

Andy Greenberg – a technology journalist – has a new book coming out called “Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency.” Andy Greenberg Has a New BTC Book Coming Out The book details the early 2021 incident in which the Colonial Pipeline was hacked by cyberthieves who demanded bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in exchange for its release. The Department of Justice (DOJ) was able to recover half of the payment that was sent and take the...

Throughout 2022, there were many trends surrounding crypto crime. Many romance scams popped up, clearly proving it was a popular method amongst cyberthieves of getting money that wasn’t theirs. We also saw examples of exchange fraud like with FTX. Now, billionaire investor and crypto bull Mark Cuban says a new crime trend will occur in 2023, though he freely admits he’s suggesting this based purely on his own thoughts, and he has no evidence to suggest it will truly...

Members of a local police force in the state of Connecticut have helped a theft victim recover roughly $23,000 in stolen crypto funds. Police Are on the Case! The money was deposited under false pretenses to several nearby bitcoin ATMs after a complaint was filed in September of last year. The victim had allegedly been scammed into depositing the money into various machines around the state, and the case was noted by the Milford Police Department. It was stated that more...

Two men in Nigeria have been arrested for allegedly taking part in crypto fraud. The pair obtained quite a bit of money by cheating investors and lying to them about their potential returns. Two Arrests for Crypto Fraud in Nigeria Force PRO – which is the national cybercrime force in Nigeria – said that the duo admitted to being part of a larger syndicate that specialized in defrauding people of their hard-earned funds. The syndicate is reported to attack investors in...

It’s happened again, folks. Another crypto hack is in the books. This time, the victim is alleged to be BTC.com, one of the biggest crypto mining pools in the world. BTC.com Hacked; A Lot of Money Gone The mining pool is believed to have lost as much as $3 million at the time of writing, which on paper, doesn’t appear as big as some of the other major hacks and scams that have occurred within the confines of the crypto space in recent years. However, it’s still another...

It’s happened again, folks. Another crypto hack has been recorded to the digital currency books. This time, the alleged victim is Bit Keep, a virtual wallet provider, and more than $8 million in crypto funds have gone missing. Bit Keep Compromised; A Lot of Money Missing To be fair, this is a small number compared to the many digital currency hacks and scams that have occurred in the past, but it’s another clear reminder that the space is not where it needs to be, and...

Two men in the eastern European nation of Estonia have been arrested after they defrauded crypto investors of more than $575 million in digital funds. Two Men in Estonia Charged with Crypto Crimes The arrests were issued by federal agents based in the United States. Both Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin – each is 37 years of age – have been charged with crimes like wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. It is also believed that there were four other...

Two new cases of crypto fraud are in the books. Crypto Fraud Is Getting Too Big The first involved two bad actors. One is Randall V. Rule, age 71, of Reno, Nevada. His partner in crime was Gregory C. Nysewander, age 64, of Irmo, South Carolina. Both have been charged with money laundering conspiracy, money laundering, and conspiracy to violate the Bank Secrecy Act. The pair sought to hide illicitly garnered funds through crypto portals. The U.S. attorney’s office said in...