Secret Service Seizes Over $100 Million Worth Of Crypto Assets

[TL; DR]

Crypto crime has been on the increase in recent times.

Chainanalysis reported that crypto crime accounted for about $14 billion and increased to 79% in 2021.

In April 2022, the United States Secret Service announced the seizure of about 102 million dollars in connection to crypto-related crimes.

Since 2015, the Secret Service has clamped down on about 254 criminal activities.

The Secret service reiterated that it is a continuous and robust process that needs timely and quick action.

The US secret service has collaborated with the Romanian National Police to clamp down on a fake crypto duping scheme in the past.

The Secret Service also apprehended those behind a Russian Crime syndicate that uses crypto exchanges for money laundering.

The Secret service has increased the synergy in the war against crypto crimes, especially Bitcoin Ransomware payments.

Keywords: Secret service, crypto, clampdown, seize, crypto crime, criminals, transactions.

[Full Article]

Over the years, cryptocurrency has been a viable tool in the hands of criminal elements and fraudsters. According to Chainanalysis, crypto crime accounted for about $14 billion. The figure increased 79% from the previous year, signifying an all-time high increase.

The cryptocurrency is deployed for criminal activities like money laundering, terrorism financing, phishing attack, and duping, among others, because it is difficult to trace transactions and very fast in transaction processing.

While crypto crime has continued to soar in recent times, Government authorities are putting all efforts, plans, and policies in place to ensure the criminals are nabbed and all proceeds from the crimes are recovered.

On this note, we shall be identifying the latest exploit by the United States Secret Service to clamp down on fraudulent individuals and their activities in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Let’s begin!


The United State Secret Service Seizure Of $100 Million Worth Of Crypto Assets

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Image: CryptoPotato

In April 2022, the Secret Service announced that it had seized over 102 million dollars in connection to crypto-related crimes. The Government agency said since 2015, when it started keeping close tabs and monitoring crypto crimes; it has successfully tracked about 254 cases.

David Smith, the U.S Secret Service assistant director of the investigation, said, "when you follow a digital currency wallet, it is not different from an email address that has some correlating identifiers,... And once a person or another person makes a transaction, and the transaction gets into the blockchain, we (the Secret Service) can follow that email address or wallet address, if you will, and trace it through the blockchain."


When the Secret Service announced the details of their operation, a larger percentage of the populace felt it took extra effort and some covert operations to nab these crypto-criminal activities. The Secret service had to release the above statement explaining that it is easy to track crypto transactions and that most accounts have been under the radar for a while.

David Smith further explained that “ what we (The Secret Service) want to do is to track that as quickly as we can, aggressively as we can, in a linear fashion.”

Experts opined that tracking crypto transactions and wallets that are into criminal activities is a robust process; it can be likened to an old-fashioned surveillance style.

Speedy investigation and prompt tracking are very important because crypto transactions are faster than traditional financial transactions. If you do not swing into action immediately, the fraudsters might have committed their illicit acts and gone back into hiding while you are still making arrangements.

Having examined how the Secret Service has clampdown successfully on about 254 crypto crimes since 2015, it is expedient to identify some of the mind-boggling crypto crimes that have occurred in the United States.


Notable Crypto-Related Criminal Activities

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Image: The Coin Republic

The first case that struck our attention is a particular case jointly handled by the US Secret Service and the Romanian National Police. The criminal case involved a scheme that uploaded fake luxury items with ads spread across various sales and auction sites.

The actors in this fake scheme afterward delivered fake invoices to their victims, and this process made it look like the transaction involved legitimate businesses. After successfully duping many people who felt the sales were legit, the perpetrators converted the proceeds of the crime to digital assets.

Fortunately, the Secret Service clamped down on these fraudsters, and the ill-gotten wealth forms part of the seized $100 million worth of crypto assets.

In another event, the Secret Service received intel about a Russian crime syndicate using a crypto exchange for money laundering. This crime is more complicated as it involves Bitcoin ransom payments to criminals in North Korea and Russia.

According to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Bitcoin Ransom payment is a thriving criminal activity involving the payment of Bitcoin as ransom. This crypto crime accounts for about $5.2 million worth of Bitcoin being paid out as ransomware between January 2011 and June 2021.

It is worthy of note that in May 2021, An American oil Pipeline system that provides gasoline and jet fuel logistics services called the Colonial Pipeline suffered a ransomware cyber attack. In response to the attack, Colonial Pipeline had to stop all pipeline operations.

The hacker group demanded 75 Bitcoin (BTC) or the dollar equivalent of $4.4 million. Immediately after the ransom was paid, an IT tool was provided to restore the system to its regular operation.

This singular event prompted the United State Government to double its efforts in clamping down on cryptocurrency-related crimes, especially ransomware attacks.


Conclusion

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Image: CoinQuora

The United States Secret Service is primarily saddled with the responsibility of protecting the President and other top government officials. Seeing such a powerful security agency leading the war against crypto crimes shows the vpainstaking issue and the urgency to reduce it to the barest minimum.

According to CNBC, Since 2015, the Secret Service has seized about $100 million worth of crypto assets linked to Criminals and has successfully unraveled the mystery behind over 254 crypto-related fraudulent activities.

Other measures taken by the US Government aside from creating synergy with other Countries include the recently organized summit involving the United States and over thirty countries. The summit centered on how to combat ransomware attacks and other forms of crypto-related crimes.






Author: Valentine. A, Gate.io Researcher
This article represents only the researcher's views and does not constitute any investment suggestions.
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