Japanese police have arrested 18 people suspected of credit card fraud and money laundering in the amount of 100 million yen (more than $666,000) through cryptocurrencies. This is reported by local media.
According to the investigation, from June 2021 to January 2022, the group placed fictitious goods on the Merkari marketplace and received payment for them on previously stolen credit cards. In total, they made about 900 fraudulent transactions.
The alleged head of the gang, 26-year-old Yutu Kobayashi, is charged with responsibility for transactions worth 2.7 million yen (~$18,000) between June and July 2021.
He hired all members of the group for "illegal part-time work" through social networks. The accomplices communicated in secure messengers.
The fraudsters laundered the received funds using the anonymous cryptocurrency Monero. For the first time in their practice, the Japanese police were able to identify the defendant by analyzing the transactions of this coin.
A previously leaked Chainalysis video revealed a way to track XMR. The method is based on running a large number of "malicious" nodes to capture transaction IP addresses and timestamps.
Recall that in January, the National Bureau of Investigation of Finland reported that it was able to track down XMRs associated with hacker Julius Kivimäki.
According to the investigation, from June 2021 to January 2022, the group placed fictitious goods on the Merkari marketplace and received payment for them on previously stolen credit cards. In total, they made about 900 fraudulent transactions.
The alleged head of the gang, 26-year-old Yutu Kobayashi, is charged with responsibility for transactions worth 2.7 million yen (~$18,000) between June and July 2021.
He hired all members of the group for "illegal part-time work" through social networks. The accomplices communicated in secure messengers.
The fraudsters laundered the received funds using the anonymous cryptocurrency Monero. For the first time in their practice, the Japanese police were able to identify the defendant by analyzing the transactions of this coin.
A previously leaked Chainalysis video revealed a way to track XMR. The method is based on running a large number of "malicious" nodes to capture transaction IP addresses and timestamps.
Recall that in January, the National Bureau of Investigation of Finland reported that it was able to track down XMRs associated with hacker Julius Kivimäki.
