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Specialists of the organization SWIFT, which operates the international system of the same name for the transfer of financial information, published a report on various money laundering techniques. According to the document, the number of cases when cryptocurrency assets were used in the framework of money laundering is small.
According to SWIFT, cybercriminals continue to have priority over "traditional methods of money laundering." These can be money mules, shell companies, cash deals, casinos, reverse investments in other forms of crime, and more.
They talk about rare cases of money laundering using cryptocurrencies, SWIFT experts give several examples. So, in the first case, a certain criminal group attacked ATMs in order to cash out funds. The group then converted the stolen money into cryptocurrency, rather than using money mules to buy and resell expensive goods with this money, as is usually the case.
In the second example, we are talking about another group from Eastern Europe, which has created its own bitcoin farm in East Asia. The criminals used funds stolen from banks to run a farm, mine bitcoins, and then spend bitcoins in Western Europe. When the members of the group were arrested, law enforcement officers seized 15,000 bitcoins worth USD 109 million, two sports cars and jewelry worth USD 557,000 from the gang leader's home.
Another case involves the famous North Korean hack group Lazarus. According to SWIFT, the group stole money from banks, converted it into cryptocurrency, transferred these assets to different exchanges to hide their origin, and then converted back to fiat currency and sent it to North Korea.
In addition, experts have recorded a number of cases when hackers used funds stolen from banks to buy prepaid cryptocurrency cards.
SWIFT noted the attractiveness to attackers of services such as mixers and toggle switches, which help to hide the source of funds by mixing transactions with large amounts of other funds.
Cryptocurrencies, according to the Association of Financial Institutions, are very popular in areas limited by severe sanctions.
Although cryptocurrency is rarely used for money laundering, experts believe that the number of such incidents will increase in the future.
According to SWIFT, cybercriminals continue to have priority over "traditional methods of money laundering." These can be money mules, shell companies, cash deals, casinos, reverse investments in other forms of crime, and more.
They talk about rare cases of money laundering using cryptocurrencies, SWIFT experts give several examples. So, in the first case, a certain criminal group attacked ATMs in order to cash out funds. The group then converted the stolen money into cryptocurrency, rather than using money mules to buy and resell expensive goods with this money, as is usually the case.
In the second example, we are talking about another group from Eastern Europe, which has created its own bitcoin farm in East Asia. The criminals used funds stolen from banks to run a farm, mine bitcoins, and then spend bitcoins in Western Europe. When the members of the group were arrested, law enforcement officers seized 15,000 bitcoins worth USD 109 million, two sports cars and jewelry worth USD 557,000 from the gang leader's home.
Another case involves the famous North Korean hack group Lazarus. According to SWIFT, the group stole money from banks, converted it into cryptocurrency, transferred these assets to different exchanges to hide their origin, and then converted back to fiat currency and sent it to North Korea.
In addition, experts have recorded a number of cases when hackers used funds stolen from banks to buy prepaid cryptocurrency cards.
SWIFT noted the attractiveness to attackers of services such as mixers and toggle switches, which help to hide the source of funds by mixing transactions with large amounts of other funds.
Cryptocurrencies, according to the Association of Financial Institutions, are very popular in areas limited by severe sanctions.
Although cryptocurrency is rarely used for money laundering, experts believe that the number of such incidents will increase in the future.
