The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Ukrainian authorities have suspended operations of nine exchanges suspected of money laundering.
FBI Seizes Nine Cryptocurrency Websites Suspected Of Money Laundering And Know Your Customer Vulnerability
The FBI has teamed up with the Virtual Currency Response Team (VCRT), the Main Investigative Department of the Ukrainian National Police, and the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office to crack down on the offending crypto platforms.
The US agency had announced the results of investigations into a May 1 press release.
Authorities shut down all the servers of crypto exchanges 24xbtc.com, 100btc.pro, pridechange.com, 101crypta.com, uxbtc.com, trust-exchange.org, bitcoin24.exchange, paybtc.pro and owl.gold.
Each platform provided users with anonymous cryptocurrency transactions through voluntary logging programs that violated several US laws. However, the authorities cite the exchanges’ extensive involvement in money laundering as the main reason for the investigation.
Websites have played a central role in criminal activities
According to the FBI, these unlicensed exchanges are important nodes in the cybercrime ecosystem. Thus, they should accept the criminal consequences.
Before shutting down the exchanges’ websites, the FBI investigated several ransomware hacks. In this hack, criminals attack a system, encrypt it, and then demand a ransom to unlock the compromised system again.
Criminals often demand ransoms for cryptocurrency because virtual assets can cross borders smoothly.
According to the FBI, the platforms were popular with scammers and other cybercriminals.
The FBI confirmed that investigations are ongoing and called on the public to provide support in cracking down on other criminal exchanges.
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