In light of heightened concerns regarding theft of cryptocurrency the Bulgarian Gendarmerie forces and specialized prosecutors apprehended three hackers allegedly involved in stealing cryptocurrency worth five million US dollars, according to news reports by Sofia based newspaper 24 Chasa on Monday, November 26.
Cryptocurrencies worth almost three million US dollars, along with the equipment allegedly belonging to the hackers which was used in the thefts, including flash drives, computers, and a hardware portfolio for storage of crypto data.
Other than the notebooks containing the crypto accounts, the prosecutors also took hold of a car that was allegedly purchased using stolen funds and was worth about sixty thousand Bulgarian Lev (BGN) which equals $35,000. The prosecutors stated that the suspects had employed newer hacking methods and had carried out advanced computer skills in the thefts. Moreover highly specialized software was utilized for the hacking activity by the criminals.
Investigations were reportedly launched by the prosecutors five months ago, shortly after they were informed about the initial cases of the alleged theft. The suspects are currently placed in jail by order of a local specialized court. So far evidence has been gathered from the territory of Pazardzhik, where all three criminals were arrested at the end of the previous week.
The arrested were also using data centers for several accounts of existing and non-existent individuals which were utilized in the illegal activity to gain a crypto loop.
One of the three hackers was released on condition of fifty thousand BGN guarantee.
Investigations are still being continued even though it is still not clear how the suspects managed to get away with such a large amount of cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin has shown tremendous volatility over the past years. During the past few weeks, its value went from almost six thousand US dollars to lower than the four thousand US dollars minimum level. Over the course of the past week, this leading cryptocurrency went down by almost twenty percent overall. Regardless of this the public still wants to get a hold of this cryptocurrency and the ones showing the greatest interest in it are criminals. During the first half of this year approximately $1.1 billion worth of cryptocurrency was stolen through cyber criminals, and unfortunately for its owners, it is very easy to steal, as estimated by a cyber-security company Carbon Black.
A significant portion of the internet known which is known as the “dark web” is used by these criminals to advance large thefts of cryptocurrency. According to a study conducted by Carbon Black there exist as of now an estimated twelve thousand cryptocurrency marketplaces and thirty four thousand crypto offerings related to crypto-theft for hackers to choose from.
Carbon Black security strategist Rick McElroy gave a statement in an interview to CNBC stating:
It’s surprising just how easy it is without any tech skill to commit cybercrimes like ransomware.
According to a report released by CipherTrace, which is also a cyber-security company, on October 9 which highlighted that theft of cryptocurrencies through hacking attacks on exchanges and crypto trading platforms increased by 250 percent since the year 2017. Stolen cryptocurrency in the first nine months of 2018 totaled $927 million.
A 21-year old man from New York was arrested by US authorities last week in the state of California for the alleged theft of cryptocurrency worth one million US dollars through a “SIM-swapping” scheme. Similarly the California based law enforcement group REACT Task Force, previously, reported that “SIM Swapping” had become one of the top priorities, of the law enforcement group, in fighting against cryptocurrency frauds.
As the value of Bitcoin underwent a dramatic increase by more than 1,300 percent last year, new investors and buyers flocked to the market in droves. That being said, unlike banks, cryptocurrency is still typically not insured by any third party, which is a commonly overlooked fact by first-time investors. Hence possessing cryptocurrency requires a lot of vigilance and care keeping in mind the ever increasing frauds and thefts.
