Tag: criminal minds

  • Bitcoin Usage for Laundering the Dirty Money

    Bitcoin Usage for Laundering the Dirty Money

    Bitcoin Usage for Laundering the Dirty Money
    The military wing of Hamas, the Gaza-based Brigades called their patrons to send them money using Bitcoin

    By Guy Avtalyon

    Bitcoin usage for laundering the dirty money is made much more often than anyone can expect. Criminals utilize the fast-moving speed of technological development with financial transactions. That fact was confirmed many times until now. They are totally ready and educated to handle new payment methods and cryptocurrencies are extremely interesting for them.

    The criminals are using cryptocurrency to launder the incomes of their criminal activities, of course. The most popular is Bitcoin, of course. But not due to its nature. The reason is there are so many exchanges where they can exchange their dirty money for bitcoins.

    Their opinion is that it is easy to hide tracks of transactions just because one of the main characteristics of Bitcoin is anonymity. That way, they can hide the source of income and send cryptos all over the world without exposure to the law. 

    As Bitcoin appeared, meaning since 2009, more than $2,5 billion of dirty money was laundered through Bitcoin. But, Bitcoin usage for laundering dirty money requires much more knowledge and money.

    The chain of mistakes

    The first mistake in their minds and education and overall knowledge about crypto – it isn’t so hard to hide the tracks of transactions. Actually, it is quite easy to link Bitcoin transactions and identify the criminals. Blockchain, the technology behind the Bitcoin, is entirely transparent and browsable by literally anyone.

    The criminals are not so good artists and that’s why those stupid idiots are constantly caught for using Bitcoin in illegal activities. The point is that Bitcoin isn’t anonymous in the sense of their opinions.

    The truth is, there is hardly any crypto on the market that is able to hide identities when making transactions.
    But how do they do that? Of course, we will never disclose all their tricks here even if we know a lot about them.

    First of all, they are using the dark web.

    For example, criminals divide Bitcoin after purchasing it and reassemble it with the help of so-called “tumblers”. Tumblers are. let’s say, bitcoin mixers. Their task is to clean that dirty crypto bought with dirty money or received as dirty already as payment for criminal jobs. How do they do it?

    Tumblers are spreading that crypto on different addresses and wallets. It is necessary to have just one wallet on the so-called clearnet, and a few hosted on the dark web. No more details. That will be all about Bitcoin usage for laundering dirty money.

     

    This service isn’t cheap, the fees are ranged from 1-3% of the whole amount.

    Hamas practices Bitcoin usage for laundering dirty money

    Criminals of all colors and sorts are trying to launder their dirty money. Recently, Hamas is embracing the Bitcoin. They developed a complex cryptocurrency system to raise funds from sponsors and hide the evidence. The military wing of Hamas, the Gaza-based Izz El-Deen al-Qassam Brigades called their patrons to send them money using Bitcoin. 

     

    The fundraising operations are revealed online at the end of January this year. After so many misuses by one or the other sort of criminals, we have on the crypto-scene new ones – terrorists. For the terrorist’s group’s dark purposes, Bitcoin is useful to raise funds. 

    Hamas is one of them. Hamas rises money in Bitcoin. Its Izz El-Deen al-Qassam Brigades is a terrorist group proscribed by many countries, among others, the United States, Israel, and the European Union. In truth, sending funds to Hamas is prohibited in those regions.

    The complexity in Hamas’ work lies in Its website which is generating a new digital wallet with each transaction.

    Far more complex to track transactions but not impossible. 

    So, they were caught.

    A leading blockchain analysis firm Elliptic identified them. They discovered where the cash came from, and also, what the Al-Qassam Brigades did with the contributions. Elliptic found that the bulk of the transferred bitcoins came from a “single, major cryptocurrency exchange”. The point is that analysts didn’t have such a hard task to track cash supplying Hamas. 

    Yet, Hamas has to figure out how to use Bitcoin smarter and hide the tracks better. This terrorist group was targeting an international audience and supporters.

    Nevertheless, the scheme employed by this terrorist group reveals the weakness of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin has already suffered criticism in the past over suspicious websites where people have used this crypto to purchase drugs and guns, or for money laundering. Without regulations in this sector, it is quite possible for terrorists to collect money, to receive donations from sponsors, to send money over the globe, and finance their nefarious activities.

    Happily, there are so many other ways to use Bitcoin for the right purpose.

  • Scams – How to avoid scams in trading and investing

    Scams – How to avoid scams in trading and investing

    How to avoid scams in trading and investing
    Scams in the world of trading are not rare, so pay attention to the following situations.

    By Guy Avtalyon

    The intent of all the scammers is to get hold of your money. Scams come to us with many faces, different forms, but all of them have one goal: to make us poor. They are getting us to reveal our personal details, steal our information, or make us to voluntarily give them cash.

    At first, everyone thought the Internet was a safe place. But we all can become an easy target for evil actors who want to steal our personal data.

    How to recognize scams?

    Criminal minds can reach into our private lives, our homes, and our work offices.

    And there is little we can do about it. Attack tactics and tools vary from traditional attacks from malicious software to ingenious phishing scams. They are usually developed in regions where justice can’t easily reach out to catch them.

    The forex market involves very active trading of over $1 trillion each day, with futures and currency options, it is closer to $5 trillion daily. The market does not have strong regulation, although things have started to improve recently.
    Let’s say,  everyone wanting help in making money in the stock market will be interested in finding a trading system.

    There are plenty available.

    Unfortunately, there are so many humbugs in the trading system.

    How to separate the legitimate trading systems from the scammers? 

    Based on research and experience, here are some good ways to mark trading system scams:

    • Do your own research. There is no need to be in a hurry when you have to invest your own money. You should first read up on the steps of investing. Make sure you know at least the basic setups of trading and investing. Be very cautious with online trading.
    • Choose a trading system. Successful trading systems can be a hedge fund or mutual fund. If you want to invest in something that has clear systematic knowledge-based information, you have to pick some trusty trading system.
    • * Examine a trial period. An investment scam often does not include trial-periods or customer satisfaction. Before you invest your money, you should invest your time in researching the terms and conditions of the item.
    • * Check a broker report. It has to be registered, so you may get reports that include information such as qualifications, reliability, and employment history. This can help you to spot any previous problems or concerns before investing.

    Cybercriminals will pull you to believe you can make money easy and fast on the internet. They’ll promise you plans and methods of getting rich quickly. It is quite simple especially when someone is in a difficult financial situation.

    How do trading scams work?

    This scamming method is similar to the romance scam.

    Cyberattackers approach to the emotional side of victims. For example, the false posting of non-existent jobs for a variety of positions is one of the online criminals’ methods.

    Using different job types, such as work-at-home, the victim is pushed to give personal and financial data with the promise of a well-paid job. Of course, it carries lots of money in a very short time. For sure.

    Never share sensitive financial information with anyone you don’t know well. Scammers can reach you out via phone, SMS, or email. They can contact you, pretending they are from a financial institution or government agency.

    They could tell your account is compromised or needs to be updated. These criminals are trying to trick you into giving them your credit card number, Social Security number. This scam is known as phishing.

    Keep in mind, your bank or credit card provider will never ask you for personal data in that way. If you receive a suspicious call or email, call the credit card provider or bank immediately to check on your account status.

    Let’s go back to trading.

    One of the challenges a novice forex investor faces is how to determine which operators to trust in the forex market and which to avoid. Signal sellers are a good example. Some analysts propose that many or even most signal sellers are scammers. A frequent criticism is that if it were really possible to use a system to beat the market, why would anyone that has this information make it widely available?

    Other analysts distinguish between known scammers and more reputable information sources such as Metatrader, that offer a well-thought-out signaling service.

    Behind these views lies a larger difference of opinion on whether anyone can predict the next move in a trading market. The best way to determine if a signal seller can benefit you is to open a demo trading account with one of the better-known forex brokers. Be patient, and you’ll determine whether predictive signaling works for you or doesn’t.

    Some forex brokers do not deal fairly with their customers and defraud them.  You should trade with a broker that also handles other stock market trades and is subject to SEC and FINRA oversight.

    The forex trade itself may be unregulated, but no broker as the subject of such oversight would risk its license for other securities by defrauding its forex customers.

    Follow these signals because such scammers are always coming back. With the same or slightly altered face.