280 crypto accounts are linked to North Korean hackers

Yesterday the US Department of Justice revealed the connection of 280 crypto accounts with Bitcoin Billionaire hackers involved in multi-million dollar robberies of North Korean cryptosystems and laundering networks.

Binance and Coinfirm against money laundering
280 crypto accounts linked to illegal activity
Basically, yesterday 280 crypto-currency accounts were identified that are used for illegal activities.

Consequently, a forfeiture complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court to obtain possession of the identified accounts by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities.

According to the report, the crypto accounts were first used in July 2019. At that time, hackers stole approximately $272,000 in crypto.

They also pointed out that, in subsequent investigations, they found that these funds were laundered by turning them into other crypto currencies.

However, this doesn’t end here. The prosecutors pointed out that there was a second attack where the hackers came out with a larger loot. Yes, they obtained $2.5 million in cryptosystems in September 2019.

According to published information, the attackers used approximately 100 accounts in a crypto exchange to launder the money obtained in the robbery.

North Korean hackers reportedly stole $2 billion, says the UN

North Korea
The researchers found that Chinese traders participating in an unidentified crypto exchange OTC were key players in laundering the funds.

So, according to the statement, these are the same actors who laundered funds for North Korea in a massive hack in 2018.

„Despite the highly sophisticated laundering techniques used, the IRS-CI CyberCrime Unit was able to successfully trace the stolen funds directly to the North Korean actors,“ said Don Fort, IRS’s Chief of Criminal Investigation.

The situation with North Korea has become increasingly complicated. In fact, in March 2019, the UN estimated that between January 2017 and September 2018, hackers for North Korea, stole $571 million in crypto currency.

The functionality of crypto-currencies is great for hackers and, above all, for North Korea. The reason is how easy it can be to launder money in crypto and, in the face of economic sanctions, they function as an escape route.

It should come as no surprise that malicious activity exists in the crypto market; it would be strange if it didn’t.

However, we must start to take action and just yesterday, Binance announced an integration aimed at combating illegal activity in the crypto market.

So, as the crypto market unites with the aim of reducing the amount of illegal activity in the market, the crypto industry will have a rapid adoption.

Will we succeed in defeating the evildoers? We want to know your opinion!