Virtual Event: Threat Detection and Incident Response Summit - Watch Sessions
Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Cybercrime

US, Ukraine Shut Down Cryptocurrency Exchanges Used by Cybercriminals

Authorities in the US and Ukraine have worked together to shut down nine websites offering cryptocurrency exchange services to cybercriminals.

Cryptocurrency exchange seized

Authorities in the United States and Ukraine have shut down nine websites that had been offering cryptocurrency exchange services to cybercriminals.

The takedowns are the result of cooperation between the FBI, its Virtual Currency Response Team (VCRT) team, the National Police of Ukraine, and Ukraine’s Prosecutor General. 

The targeted domains, which now display a message informing visitors that they have been seized, are 24xbtc.com, 100btc.pro, pridechange.com, 101crypta.com, uxbtc.com, trust-exchange.org, bitcoin24.exchange, paybtc.pro and owl.gold.

Authorities claim they have not only seized the domains, but also shut down associated servers, including ones located in the United States.

“Noncompliant virtual currency exchanges, which have a lax anti-money laundering program or collect minimal Know Your Customer information or none at all, serve as important hubs in the cybercrime ecosystem and are operating in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Sections 1960 and 1956,” the DoJ said.

The targeted cryptocurrency exchanges were advertised on crime forums and they offered support in both English and Russian.

In many cases, the illegal currency exchange services were used by ransomware groups, as well as other types of scammers.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Ukrainian police said they are currently trying to identify the individuals involved in the criminal activity.

Also this week, law enforcement agencies around the world announced the takedown of dark web drug marketplace ‘Monopoly Market’ and the arrests of nearly 300 people who allegedly sold and bought drugs on the website. 

Related: 120 Arrested as Cybercrime Website Genesis Market Seized by FBI

Related: Success of Genesis Market Takedown Attempt Called Into Question

Related: Hive Ransomware Operation Shut Down by Law Enforcement

Written By

Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is a contributing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher for two years before starting a career in journalism as Softpedia’s security news reporter. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.

Click to comment

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

SecurityWeek’s Threat Detection and Incident Response Summit brings together security practitioners from around the world to share war stories on breaches, APT attacks and threat intelligence.

Register

Securityweek’s CISO Forum will address issues and challenges that are top of mind for today’s security leaders and what the future looks like as chief defenders of the enterprise.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Cybercrime

The changing nature of what we still generally call ransomware will continue through 2023, driven by three primary conditions.

Cybercrime

Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus Group informed some customers last week that their online accounts had been breached by hackers.

Cybercrime

As it evolves, web3 will contain and increase all the security issues of web2 – and perhaps add a few more.

Cybercrime

A recently disclosed vBulletin vulnerability, which had a zero-day status for roughly two days last week, was exploited in a hacker attack targeting the...

Cybercrime

Satellite TV giant Dish Network confirmed that a recent outage was the result of a cyberattack and admitted that data was stolen.

Cybercrime

Zendesk is informing customers about a data breach that started with an SMS phishing campaign targeting the company’s employees.

Artificial Intelligence

The release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022 has demonstrated the potential of AI for both good and bad.

Artificial Intelligence

The degree of danger that may be introduced when adversaries start to use AI as an effective weapon of attack rather than a tool...