The United States Department of Justice is seeking the owners of crypto funds that were held by CoinGather — a small crypto exchange that was seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, or FBI, in March 2018. The seizure came months after the exchange had abruptly ceased operating during November 2017, prompting rumors to circulate that the platform had conducted an exit scam. US Gov seeks victims of CoinGather scam The U.S. government is looking for individuals who may have a claim to the crypto holdings of the defunct CoinGather exchange. A warrant shows that the cryptocurrencies currently reside on …

Speaking as part of an online panel hosted by think tank, Aspen Institute, Federal Bureau of Investigations, or FBI, deputy assistant director, Tonya Ugoretz, revealed that the number of cybercrime reports received by the agency has more than tripled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “Whereas they might typically receive 1,000 complaints a day through their internet portal, they're now receiving something like 3,000 to 4,000 complaints a day,” stated Ugoretz, adding: “Not all of those are COVID-related, but a good number of those are.” The FBI agent noted that “there was a brief shining moment when we hoped [...] ‘gosh cybercriminals …

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has charged a Russian hacker for stealing private information, and has shut down his platform — Deer.io, which moved funds via crypto assets. The FBI shut down the Deer platform on March 24, as per a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ). The platform’s “suspected administrator – alleged Russian hacker Kirill Victorovich Firsov - was arrested and charged with crimes related to the hacking of U.S. companies for customers’ personal information,” the DoJ noted. The FBI detained the alleged infiltrator weeks ago The FBI took Firsov into custody on March 7 while …

A petition calling on the White House to release Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the dark web marketplace Silk Road, has gathered more than 275,000 signatures. FreeRoss.org — an initiative created by a group of Ulbricht’s family, friends and supporters — has said that the momentum continues to grow and that they feel that a solution “could come soon.” Through an update on the online petitions website released on March 19, FreeRoss.org claimed Ross is “doing fine”. They have also reported that visits were canceled for 30 days, as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic. The online petition hopes …

Running up against limited experience and resources for monitoring potentially illegal use of digital assets, United States authorities delegate sanctions monitoring to cryptocurrency exchanges and industry players. But do current practices do more harm than good? Who will watch the watchlist? Within the U.S. Treasury, the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) is responsible for sanctioning individuals and entities the country considers threats to national security. Earlier this month, OFAC added two Chinese nationals accused of laundering money for North Korea’s infamous Lazarus Group. Notably, OFAC’s designation included crypto addresses for these individuals, a measure OFAC first introduced near the …

Kirill Victorovich Firsov, the alleged owner of Russian-based anonymous marketplace Deer.io, was arrested on March 7 by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. Court documents allege that Firsov is the mastermind behind Deer.io — a site that offered darknet-style services in exchange for Bitcoin on the normal web. The FBI estimates it has facilitated more than $17 million worth of sales. Firsov will be arraigned in New York court later this week, where he is expected to face charges for trafficking stolen information, and aiding and abetting trafficking. Deer.io hosted $17 million …

A recent presentation from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, shows ransomware hackers have pilfered massive amounts of Bitcoin (BTC) since 2013. Between October 2013 and November 2019, victims paid roughly $144 million in BTC to ransomware hackers, FBI supervisor Joel DeCapua indicated at a Feb. 24 RSA conference. Ransomware takes control During a ransomware breach, nefarious parties take control of a person or entity’s computer systems, demanding payment, often in BTC, to unlock victims’ platforms. DeCapua noted almost all ransomware payments are sent in Bitcoin, and that the bureau's number does not include other related losses victims …

Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of major encrypted messenger Telegram, argues that Apple’s cloud service iCloud is “now officially a surveillance tool.” Citing a Jan. 21 Reuters report, Durov claimed that applications like WhatsApp — which rely on iCloud to store private messages — are “part of the problem.” Telegram CEO delivered his verdict in a post on his official Telegram channel on Jan. 21: “iCloud is now officially a surveillance tool. Apps that are relying on it to store your private messages (such as WhatsApp) are part of the problem.” Apple dropped its end-to-end encryption plans for iCloud two …

One of the most successful investors in the world is calling for the release of convicted criminal Ross Ulbricht. Following up on a September 21 tweet by Tim Draper that was completely sympathetic to the imprisoned Silk Road creator, Fred Schebesta of the Crypto Finder video podcast took a moment to ask the billionaire his latest feelings on the matter. Draper gave an effusive response: Free Ross, baby! Get him out. We need entrepreneurs like that guy! Get him out of jail! Why do we put these really extraordinary people in jail? We need their minds, their energy, their life …

With each passing day, the financial nitty-gritty associated with the cryptocurrency-related OneCoin Ponzi scheme continues to become of increasing interest to members of the global crypto community. The U.S. government’s previous estimate of the scam that raked in a total of $4 billion seems to be well off the mark, as the figure could be more than three to four times the official estimate — this is according to Jamie Bartlett, the person responsible for the BBC's podcast series The Missing Cryptoqueen. As part of the show, Bartlett and his team followed a trail of clues to track down Ruja …

Director for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Christopher Wray testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee at a hearing on security threats facing the United States. On Nov. 5, during the hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee On Homeland Security And Governmental Affairs, senators asked leaders from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Center questions on topics including counterterrorism efforts, foreign influence in elections, cybersecurity measures, border security, and of course, cryptocurrencies. FBI might find itself walled off by new technology Former Presidential Candidate and Republican Senator from Utah, Mitt Romney, asked the intelligence officers …

At the beginning of October, a story released by CNN claimed that a student affiliated with the University of Michigan attempted to hack into West Virginia’s blockchain-based voting system called Voatz. As per the report, the FBI is now actively investigating the matter and is looking to authenticate the veracity of these claims. Voatz is a smartphone-based app that was used by the West Virginia government last year to collect ballots from its citizens that were either living overseas at the time or were stationed abroad for military purposes. The aforementioned disclosure was made by West Virginia Secretary of State …