Scammers escape discovery by utilising black market identities
Rebeca Moen Nov 17, 2022 19:52
Crypto scammers have been accessing a "cheap and easy" black market of individuals willing to put their name and face on fraudulent projects for the low price of $8. These individuals are described by CertiK as "Professional KYC actors". Some roles paid up to $500 a week if an actor was to play the role of CEO for a malicious project. A tool released in October by Mastercard combines artificial intelligence and blockchain data to help find and prevent fraud. Another recent example has been the work of French authorities using on-chain analysis to find and charge five people who stole nonfungible tokens (NFT) through a phishing scam.
A blockchain security company by the name of CertiK discovered the startling revelation that persons who commit bitcoin fraud have access to a "cheap and easy" black market of individuals who are willing to put their name and face on fraudulent projects for the modest price of $8. The identities of these KYC players might also be used by criminals to register bank accounts or exchange accounts in their own names, which is another possibility.
Researchers from CertiK discovered over 20 underground marketplaces that hire KYC actors for as little as $8 for basic "gigs." These "gigs" include meeting the KYC criteria "to open a bank or exchange account from a developing country." You may access these marketplaces via Telegram, Discord, smartphone applications, and websites that specialize in gigs.
CertiK made the observation that the majority of performers appear to be exploited because they live in developing countries "with an above-average concentration in South-East Asia" and are paid between $20 and $30 for each role that they play. Additionally, CertiK noted that the majority of these performers live in South-East Asia.
CertiK has issued a warning that more than 40 websites that claim to analyze cryptocurrency projects and award "KYC badges" are "useless" due to the fact that their services are "too superficial to detect fraud or simply too amateurish to detect insider threats." CertiK believes that this is the case because the websites are "too superficial to detect fraud or simply too amateurish to detect insider threats."
In October, Mastercard made the announcement that it will be launching a new solution for the identification and prevention of fraud. This new solution takes use of both artificial intelligence and the data stored on blockchains.
There is a widespread misunderstanding that the transparent nature of blockchain transactions makes it simpler for criminals to conceal the flow of money. This is not the case. On the other hand, the opposite is really the case.
The French law enforcement agency was able to identify five individuals and bring them to justice for stealing nonfungible tokens (NFT) via a phishing scam. This was made possible by the use of on-chain analysis.
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