$ 3.5 billion in crypto seized by IRS cybercrime unit in 2021

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The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released its annual report on criminal investigations, and cryptocurrencies have played a leading role in cybercrime.

According to the IRS Cybercrime Unit report, more than $ 3.5 billion in cryptocurrency was seized in 2021. This would represent up to 93% of all seizures made in 2021.

The most famous crypto cases solved by the IRS:

Some of the most successful crypto cases closed by the IRS Cybercrime Unit include:

The seizure of over $ 1 billion in cryptocurrency from “Individual X”, who had managed to hack Silk Road and get away with some of his funds. The IRS said an unidentified third-party company assisted its staff during the investigation. The arrest of Roman Sterlingov, who ran the oldest cryptocurrency money laundering service on the Darknet, Bitcoin Fog (operational since 2011). It is estimated that Bitcoin Fog has laundered over 1.2 million Bitcoins during its existence. The arrest of Volodymyr Kvashuk for his scheme to embezzle more than $ 10 million in Microsoft gift cards, which he then sold in exchange for Bitcoin. The IRS believes Kvashuk stole more than 150,000 gift cards while his operation was active. The arrest of Glib Oleksandr Ivanov-Tolpintsev (28, Chernivtsi, Ukraine) for exploiting a botnet to hack the credentials of thousands of computers and sell information on the Darknet for cryptocurrencies. With the data purchased, other criminals were able to commit a range of crimes, from phishing and extortion to identity theft. The United States and the Crypto Criminals

The Cyber ​​Crime Unit plans to build an Advanced Collaboration and Data Center (ACDC) in the Northern Virginia region in 2022, as well as an integration of the Washington DC office with the Cyber ​​Support Unit to ensure more efficient work.

The Cybercrime Unit has a problem with extreme confidentiality. The team is founded on the “follow the money” strategy that it has been committed to for over a century. However, new decentralized technologies such as cryptocurrencies have made this task more difficult than ever.

CI’s cybercrime investigative efforts focus on topics that use the Internet as a critical means to commit crime, remain anonymous, and evade law enforcement while concealing financial transactions, asset ownership or other evidence.

And beyond the IRS, other agencies are also working hard to combat the use of cryptocurrencies. Earlier this year, President Biden announced that ransomware gangs would be treated under the same category of terrorism, which is quite significant when you consider that groups like REvil, Darkside or Conti are expected to generate losses from the around twenty billion dollars. This year.

In a ransomware attack, the criminals encrypt the victim’s data and force them to pay for the decryption key. Some of the victims of ransomware are the Colonial Pipeline, JBS, MIT, and other major institutions around the world.

However, even those who pay for such a key can be in a lose-lose situation. In a 2020 ruling, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said it was illegal to pay a ransom in most cases.

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