The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released its annual Criminal Investigation Report, in which cryptocurrencies have played a major role in the field of cybercrime.

According to report The IRS Cybercrime Unit, over $3.5 billion worth of cryptocurrency was seized during 2021.

This would constitute up to 93% of all seizures made in 2021.

The most famous crypto crimes solved by the IRS:

Among the most successful cases closed by the IRS Cybercrime Unit are:

• More than $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency was confiscated from “Individual X,” who successfully hacked into the Silk Road store and got rid of part of his funds.
• The arrest of Roman Sterlinov who ran the oldest crypto money laundering service on the dark web “Bitcoin Fog” (operating since 2011), it is estimated that “Bitcoin Fog” has laundered more than 1.2 million Bitcoin since its existence.
• Volodymyr Kvashuk was arrested over his plan to embezzle $10 million in gift cards from Microsoft, which he later sold for bitcoin.

The United States and Crypto Criminals:

The Cybercrime Unit has plans to build an Advanced Collaboration and Data Center (ACDC) in the Northern Virginia region in 2022, in addition to integrating the Washington, DC office with the Cyber ​​Support Unit to ensure a more efficient operation.

Read:Ethereum whales move their cryptocurrency towards exchanges before the integration upgrade

The Cybercrime Unit has a privacy issue.

The team is based on a money-following strategy that has been committed for over a century.

However, new decentralized technologies such as cryptocurrencies have made this task more difficult than ever.

Cybercrime investigation efforts focus on subjects using the Internet as a primary means of committing crime, remaining anonymous, and avoiding the law while concealing financial transactions, asset ownership, or other evidence.

Other than the IRS, other agencies are working hard to combat the use of cryptocurrencies.

Earlier this year, President Biden announced that ransomware gangs would be treated under the same category as terrorism, which is very important if one takes into account that groups like REvil, Darkside or Conti are expected to cause “In losses of about twenty billion dollars this year.

During a ransomware attack, criminals encrypt the victim’s data and force him to pay for the decryption key.

Some of the victims of ransomware are Colonial Pipeline, JBS, MIT and other important organizations around the world.

However, even those who pay for this key may be in a position to lose their data.

Read:The Stellar currency rose by 20% after it was announced that half of its supplies were burned

In a 2020 ruling, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) declared it illegal to pay ransom for most cases.

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