Cyber ​​criminals stole $ 4.3 billion in crypto

Cybercriminals stole $ 4.3 billion from crypto exchanges, investors and users in 2019. Blockchain security company CipherTrace released this data in its anti-money laundering report.

According to CipherTrace, direct thefts, scams and other types of embezzlement from digital currency holders and trading platforms resulted in losses of approximately $ 4.3 billion throughout 2019.

In the first quarter of 2019, cybercriminals stole over $ 124 million from exchanges, totaling $ 480 million by August.

The largest “Tun”

The biggest scam mentioned by CipherTrace was the PlusToken project. It is alleged to have defrauded users and investors of $ 2.9 billion.

As for the most popular digital currency for illicit activity, it seems to be Bitcoin. The BTC was used for the purchase and sale of illegal drugs, weapons, as well as confidential computer and banking information, the report claims.

Malware attacks

They widely use other cryptocurrencies, including Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Monero (XMR), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Dogecoin (DOGE). The report explains:

“The results show that private currencies are very little used on the dark web. For example, only 4% of cases involve Monero (XMR). In contrast, Bitcoin remains the favorite currency, being used in 76% of cases, followed by ETH used in only 7% of cases. “

With regard to malware and ransomware, criminals have used BTC in 98% of reported cases, while ETH has been used only 1% of the time.

A UN report says North Korea has accumulated around $ 2 billion in hacking crypto banks and exchanges in 2019.