- A half dozen Malaysians were charged with kidnapping a Chinese resident for $1 Million in USDT.
- The Malaysian group kidnapped a Chinese resident on July 11, 2024, near the exit point of an expressway, according to the filed charges.
- Scammers are leveraging AI to loot innocent investors in the crypto space, as per a recent Elliptic report.
The global popularity of cryptocurrencies has surged, leading to a rise in illicit activities aimed at gaining exposure to other digital assets over the past few years. During the Ukraine war, dozens of on-chain analysis firms reported that terrorists actively utilized crypto, particularly USDT, to further their goals.
According to the latest update, authorities detained half a dozen Malaysian residents for kidnapping a resident of China for $1 Million in cryptocurrency. The charged kidnapper group includes a married couple and four others.
A Malaysian group kidnapped a Chinese resident on July 11, 2024, and demanded 4.44 million Malaysian ringgit in cryptocurrencies to remain untraceable.
Multinational fraudsters and scammers prefer to accept payment in digital assets so that they can use crypto mixers and other tools to cover their tracks.
Judge Amir Effendy rejected the bail requests of the six accused on August 15 after they pleaded not guilty to the abduction charges. He then set the next court hearing for October 8.
Crypto Crimes in 2024
Elliptic’s recent report reveals that crypto scammers are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to create convincing celebrity endorsements. By capitalizing on trending buzzwords like GPT, these scammers ultimately deceive crypto investors.
The report read, “AI is the hype-generating target of a string of recent scam tokens. There are hundreds of tokens listed on several blockchains that have some variant of the term “GPT’’ in their name, including “GPT4 Token”, “CryptoGPT’’ and “GPT Coin,” amongst others. Some may indeed reflect well-intentioned ventures, but some have been shilled in amateur trading forums where scammers claim some form of official association with ChatGPT or other supposedly legitimate AI company.”
The January 2024 Casino Underground Banking Report reveals a disturbing trend in East and Southeast Asia. Transnational organized crime groups in the region are extensively using casinos, junkets, and crypto to further their illicit activities.
These entities have emerged as crucial underground banking and money laundering infrastructure components, enabling illicit activities to thrive.
Crypto Market Price Update
At press time, global crypto market capitalization is $2.07 Trillion with an intraday decline of over 3.50%. CoinMarketCap’s fear and greed index is at 43, reflecting neutrality.
Bitcoin caught huge attention post-COVID-19 when the world shifted towards advanced digital technologies. In the past few weeks, BTC was tumbling in the $54k – 63k range.
