Analysis News TheBitTimes.com

Academics at the University of Texas claim to have traced over $75 billion of crypto flows linked to social engineering scams known as ‘pig butchering.’ However, blockchain forensics expert Taylor Monahan suspects that this figure is inflated by “a few orders of magnitude.” Metamask’s Monahan, a longstanding figure in the crypto community known for her recent painstaking on-chain tracing of the Lazarus Group, has specifically raised concerns over the study’s methodology. I keep getting sent this paper on Pig Butchering and, yes, I've read it numerous times now. The finer details and some of the tracing methodology within are…okay. But the big takeaways—and especially the $75.3 billion dollar number—are fully fucking absurd. pic.twitter.com/8klgC3B8bc — Tay (@tayvano_) March 11, 2024 Read more: North Korean group Lazarus behind $70M crypto exchange attacks, report Monahan s US pects that the authors have double-counted funds and misinterpreted some of the addres...

A UK police officer has been barred from the force after lying about hiding thousands of pounds in Crypto and showing a “serious lack of integrity” while claiming to be an amateur investor.   As reported by the Harborough Mail, when Osama Hussain joined Leicestershire Police in 2022, he claimed to have invested £150 in Crypto , downplaying his relationship with an unnamed individual he was trading with.  In fact, Hussain was actually spending thousands on digital currency and the individual, known as Person A, was later discovered to have conducted transactions worth £4,000 with Hussain. These discrepancies were missed during the police vetting process during which an officer’s financial investments are scrutinized to determine their risk of vulnerability to financial inducement. Australian police failed to act on HyperVerse scam for two years Read more: UK newspaper investigates after ‘crypto wizard’ posts NHS token article His secret crypto lifestyle was unearthe...

A record-breaking 50,000 bitcoin worth over $2 billion has been seized by German authorities following an investigation into a movie piracy site, police announced today.  The investigation, headed by multiple German authorities, focused on two men who allegedly ran “pirated copy portals” under the name Movie2K until mid-2013 and used the profits to buy bitcoin. The 50,000 Bitcoin confiscated earlier this month, is said to be the biggest seizure of its kind to date. According to authorities, the suspects voluntarily handed over the Bitcoin to wallets that are controlled by Germany ’s Federal Criminal Police Office.  In pursuing the case, German authorities received help from the FBI and a Munich-based forensic IT firm . Silk Road seller linked to 8,100 bitcoin seizure pleads guilty Read more: Chinese takeaway worker laundered Bitcoin from $6B scam, prosecutors German police say they are yet to decide what to do with the Bitcoin and that there are currently no charges a...

A former attorney of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) believes prosecution by the Department of Justice (DOJ) is necessary to deal with crypto grifters. John Reed Stark, who spent 15 years as an SEC enforcement attorney leading cyber-related investigations, says crypto criminals treat regulatory enforcement with levity. DOJ prosecution in crypto-related fraud cases was lacking compared to the numerous enforcement actions by the SEC, he wrote on X. The situation is “mind-boggling,” Stark added. SBF’s Mom and Dad: Criminal Beneficiaries, Profiteers, Conspirators and Enablers I served for almost 20 years as an attorney in the SEC Division of Enforcement (including 11 years as Chief of the SEC’s Office of Internet Enforcement) and led dozens of SEC prosecutions with… pic.twitter.com/pElbR2wUeX — John Reed Stark (@JohnReedStark) September 23, 2023 Stark’s statement on X The former SEC official also pointed out the attitude of some major stakeh...

A New York man has been arrested for allegedly orchestrating a multimillion-dollar cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering scheme just months after his son was arrested for his role in the same plot. Sixty-year-old Eugene William Austin, JR. — known as Hugh Austin — was arrested on July 5, charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the Department of Justice (DoJ) announced on Wednesday.  His son, Brandon P. A US tin, was arrested and pleaded guilty to money laundering on April 13 as part of the duo’s scheme. It’s alleged that the pair took out loans with no intention of paying them back, offered marketing services without carrying them out, and acted as crypto brokers while pocketing investors’ cash. It’s also claimed they spent $10 million in stolen funds on lavish hotels and personal expenses . Read more: How wire fraud...