FBI Seizes 9 Crypto Exchanges Used By Cybercriminals To Launder Ransomware Payments
The FBI and the Ukrainian police have confiscated nine crypto exchange websites that fostered money laundering for scammers and cybercriminals.
The FBI says in its statement that it executed the operation with the help of the Virtual Currency Response Team, the National Police of Ukraine, and legal prosecutors in the country.
The nine websites and their servers seized in this operation are 24xbtc.com, 100btc.pro, pridechange.com, 101crypta.com, uxbtc.com, trust-exchange.org, bitcoin24.exchange, paybtc.pro, owl.gold.
A System Deliberately Made For Cybercriminals
The seized websites authorized users to anonymously convert cryptocurrencies into harder-to-trace coins to shade the money whiff and help threat actors launder their ransom.
Moreover, most of these websites presented users with live support and instructions in Russian and English, extending over a broad spectrum of cybercriminal communities.
Furthermore, non-compliant virtual currency exchanges have a lax anti-money laundering system and gather minimal Know Your Customer information or none at all, living rooms for an unguarded cybercriminal space.
Considerably, by providing these services, virtual currency exchanges deliberately harbor the cybercriminal activities of their clients and become co-conspirators in criminal conspiracies.
Additionally, the website’s servers were located in the United States, Ukraine, and various European countries, The seized infrastructure can be investigated by law enforcement to unbutton cybercriminals who laundered money through the sites essentially, leading to future arrests.
Crackdowns On Cybercriminals Space
Crackdowns on cryptocurrency laundering networks are very important as those outlets nudge hackers intentionally or not to continue their fleecing activities unabated.
However, By pulling apart these services, law enforcement agencies not only restrict the financial exchanges of ransomware groups but also send a decisive message to operators of such platforms.
More recently, on April 24, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned brokers who advocated North Korean cryptocurrency laundering networks.
Finally, at the start of the year, the U.S. DoJ apprehended the creator of Bizlato, a Hong Kong-registered cryptocurrency exchange, over allegations of assisting in cybercriminal laundering illegally.
