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Uncovering a $100 million cryptocurrency scheme in Myanmar What is happening?
A fresh fraud case has been revealed by Midjourney Chainalysis. The scam involves a single organization that operates out of a compound in Myanmar and defrauded people out of over $100 million in less than two years.
The company carried out a research in association with the US anti-slavery organization International Justice Mission that identified digital currency issued by Tether, one of the biggest cryptocurrency platforms globally, utilized in fraudulent schemes referred to as “pig butchering.”
Tether tokens were also reportedly used to pay a business in the eastern Myanmar complex known as KK Park, according to Chainalysis.
Families of workers who had been trafficked and had been compelled to pay ransoms in order to be freed paid these payments.
The investigation also showed that in just two digital wallets, a single Chinese corporation was able to amass almost $100 million in cryptocurrencies.
Criminal organizations have previously used Tether’s tokens, which are intended to track the value of the US dollar, as a means of making cross-border payments.
Tether Use by Criminals Persists Despite Traceability
According to Chainalysis’s head of cyber threat intelligence, Jackie Koven, this case is an example of a wider pattern of criminal activity involving digital assets.
It’s a worrying trend that criminals are still using Tether tokens despite their traceability.
Chainalysis and the International Justice Mission decided not to reveal the identity of the Chinese company involved in the frauds in order to protect the victims of human trafficking who were employed by it.
The two cryptocurrency wallets that the business used to receive illegal cash were disclosed to International Justice Mission by former employees who took part in pig slaughtering schemes.
It is estimated that thousands of trafficked laborers reside in KK Park, which is close to Myanmar’s border with Thailand. Many of these individuals are forced to run online frauds.
It is still unclear who owns KK Park, and attempts to get in touch with its management to get a response have not been effective.
These KK Park discoveries will probably put more pressure on Tether, which oversees assets valued at close to $100 billion, to take more aggressive measures to prevent the misuse of its internal currency.
Tether has emerged as a popular payment option for Southeast Asian scammers and money launderers, according to a new warning from the UN office on drugs and crime.
According to Tether, $276 million connected to pig slaughtering frauds has been frozen and the company is working with law enforcement across the globe to stop the unauthorized usage of its token.
Tether Has 1,300 Cryptocurrency Wallets Banned
According to data supplier CCData, Tether has blocked around 1,300 cryptocurrency wallets; the figure has increased since November when the business allowed US authorities, including as the FBI, access to its network.
The majority of the $100 million in monitored cryptocurrency linked to the KK Park company was exchanged on the Tron blockchain, which has grown to be one of the biggest networks in the sector and has cheap transaction costs.
Koven emphasized that a lot of these scams take advantage of Tron’s low transaction costs and Tether’s stable price.
In March of the previous year, Justin Sun, the creator of Tron Network, was charged by US regulators for allegedly selling securities without registration and manipulating the market. He denied the allegations.
Law enforcement organizations find it increasingly difficult to track down pig butchering frauds due to the speed and complexity of blockchain transactions, even though they do not only rely on cryptocurrencies for payments.
This example shows us how to measure the scope of the issue, spot more con artists in the larger network, and find more victims, according to Koven.
Law enforcement can thwart illicit actions through the use of Tether and Tron, which can frequently be tracked on a public ledger, according to Koven. However, international cooperation is needed.