ChainCatcher news, the Public Security Bureau of Wenxian County, Luliang City, Shanxi Province successfully cracked a new type of fraud case involving virtual currency. According to the Ping An Luliang public account, this "investment and financial management + on-site cash exchange for U" scam involves an amount as high as 200,000 yuan.In the case, the suspects established a trust relationship with the victims through the "pig butchering" technique, and then arranged for "runners" to come to the victims' locations under the pretext of helping to find USDT exchange merchants for "on-site exchange." After obtaining the cash, the suspects immediately went offline. The anti-fraud center of the Wenxian County Public Security Bureau quickly launched an investigation after receiving the report. By analyzing the funds involved and collecting evidence, the police identified the suspect Chen from Jiaozuo City, Henan Province. On October 22, the investigating officers successfully arrested Chen in Jiaozuo City.Upon investigation, it was found that Chen drove from Jiaozuo, Henan to Wenxian County, met with the victim Chang, and successfully obtained 200,000 yuan in cash, which was then handed over to his superior. Currently, Chen has been subjected to criminal coercive measures in accordance with the law, and the case is under further investigation.

ChainCatcher news, according to reports from Heshun Public Security, the Criminal Investigation Team of Heshun County Public Security Bureau successfully dismantled a criminal gang that specialized in defrauding victims of funds, withdrawing cash, and laundering money using USDT after meticulous investigation.In early September 2024, a local resident Zhao was scammed out of 50,000 yuan by someone impersonating a government official, and the funds were directly withdrawn from a bank in Chongqing. The investigating police officers reviewed a large amount of bank surveillance footage and transaction records, discovering that the suspects used "clients" to purchase cars and apply for loans. After obtaining the "clients'" bank card information, they sent it to foreign scammers via Telegram. Once the victim's defrauded funds were transferred to the "client's" bank account, they falsely claimed to the "client" that cash needed to be withdrawn for the car dealership. After receiving the transferred scam funds from the "client," they immediately converted the involved funds into USDT and transferred them abroad. This gang is linked to over 10 cases in Beijing, Shanghai, Anhui, and other locations.With strong support from the Municipal Bureau's Criminal Investigation Team and the County Bureau's Cybersecurity Team, the investigating officers gradually grasped the complete structure and criminal evidence of the money laundering gang using USDT, and identified the characteristics and activity range of the suspect responsible for withdrawing the scam funds.The investigating officers simultaneously carried out arrest operations in Chongqing, Henan, and other locations, capturing 7 suspects, seizing one involved vehicle, 10 mobile phones, one cash detector, and over 37,000 yuan in cash. The case is still under further investigation.

ChainCatcher news, according to Huanghe News Network, recently, the Anti-Fraud Center of the Shangdang Branch of the Changzhi Public Security Bureau, with the assistance of the Cybersecurity Division of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, successfully cracked a case involving a money laundering gang using virtual currency, arresting 11 criminal suspects, with an amount involved exceeding 2 million yuan.Upon investigation, it was found that all gang members were locals of Changzhi. They profited by buying virtual currency at a low price and then selling it at a high price, subsequently withdrawing the involved funds from multiple banks in Xi'an and Taiyuan. The police conducted arrest operations in areas such as the Xiaodian District of Taiyuan and Jingle County of Xinzhou. During interrogation, the gang members confessed to their crimes. All members of this fraud and money laundering gang have now been subjected to criminal coercive measures, and the case is currently under further investigation.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Taiyuan Daily, in recent years, some criminals have been using the banners of blockchain, financial innovation, and so on, to issue so-called virtual currencies, virtual assets, and digital assets to raise funds, infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of the public. On June 3, the Office of the Leading Group for the Disposal of Illegal Fundraising in Shanxi Province issued a reminder that such activities are not genuinely based on blockchain technology, but rather are illegal fundraising, pyramid schemes, and fraud disguised as hype. Consumers should enhance their risk awareness, refrain from participating in speculative activities, and be cautious to avoid damage to their personal property and rights.Currently, there are three main characteristics of illegal fundraising using the concept of blockchain.First, there is a clear trend of networking and cross-border activities. Relying on the internet and chat tools for transactions, and using online payment tools for fund inflow and outflow, the risk spreads widely and rapidly. Some criminals set up websites by renting overseas servers, effectively targeting domestic residents while remotely controlling illegal activities. Some individuals claim in chat group tools to have access to high-quality overseas blockchain project investment quotas and can invest on behalf of others, which is highly likely to be fraudulent activity. Much of the funds from these illegal activities flow overseas, making regulation and tracking very difficult.Second, there is a strong element of deception, temptation, and concealment. By exploiting hot concepts for speculation, some even use celebrities to promote their schemes, enticing with airdrops and claiming short investment cycles, high returns, and low risks, which are highly seductive, concealed, and misleading. In actual operations, criminals manipulate behind the scenes, setting thresholds for profit and withdrawal to illegally reap huge profits.Third, there are various illegal risks involved. Criminals publicly promote static returns (appreciation profits) and dynamic returns (profits from developing downlines) as bait to attract the public to invest funds, and entice investors to recruit others, continuously expanding the funding pool, which exhibits characteristics of illegal fundraising, pyramid schemes, and fraud.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Paper, the first STRK cryptocurrency fraud case in Changzhi, Shanxi has been successfully solved. Recently, the Cybersecurity Team of the Xiangyuan County Public Security Bureau received a report from a victim, stating that 40,000 STRK coins obtained through the official STRK development program were fraudulently claimed by others. With the support of the Cybersecurity Division of the Changzhi Public Security Bureau, the Xiangyuan cyber police, based on relevant clues, ultimately identified the suspect as a Lan from Meizhou, Guangdong Province. On April 25, special police officers went to Guangdong Province to conduct investigations, and after monitoring, successfully arrested the suspect Lan, seizing 2 mobile phones and a computer on site.Investigation revealed that the suspect Lan purchased numerous Tg accounts and Discord accounts, generated a large number of STRK receiving addresses, and simultaneously searched for relevant proof of work submitted by others, impersonating others and submitting over 40 ECMP forms, fraudulently claiming 40,000 STRK coins belonging to the victim and transferring them to his own OKX wallet, which were then exchanged for 91,000 USDT (equivalent to over 637,000 yuan).Currently, the suspect Lan has been subjected to criminal coercive measures in accordance with the law, and the case is under further investigation.

ChainCatcher news, according to the CCTV News client report, the Taiyuan police in Shanxi province have dismantled a criminal gang that provided "money laundering" services for telecom fraud groups using a large-scale gold trading lead. So far, a total of 15 suspects have been arrested, involving more than 127 telecom network fraud cases across the country, with a total transaction amount of 135 million yuan.According to investigations, this criminal gang was led by Deng (male, 31 years old, from Hainan). Since early February 2023, they began to undertake "money laundering" operations for overseas telecom fraud and online gambling funds. The gang was divided into groups for receiving funds, scouting, card swiping, transporting gold, currency trading, and selling stolen goods.After Deng contacted the overseas fraud gang for "money laundering" services, he reached out to "card dealers" to find "card farmers" to receive funds from overseas fraud and online gambling; the scouting group would visit major gold stores to look for those with a large amount of gold in stock; then the card swiping and transporting group would swipe cards to purchase gold together with the card farmers, and afterwards, they would choose relatively hidden public places to hand over the gold to the transporting group; the "gold transporters" would transfer the gold to Shenzhen and hand it over to the "currency traders"; the "currency traders" would sell the stolen goods and convert the proceeds into virtual currency to be handed over to Deng; finally, Deng would transfer the virtual currency to the overseas fraud gang. To evade police crackdown, Deng communicated with overseas contacts and domestic accomplices solely through overseas chat software and used virtual currency for settlements.The police have frozen and seized involved funds amounting to 3.479 million yuan, confiscated two cars, over 30 mobile phones used in the crimes, 13 SIM cards, and 9 POS machines. Currently, Deng, Xie, Ni, and 10 other suspects have been legally transferred to prosecution for concealing and disguising criminal proceeds and the crime of benefiting from criminal proceeds. Han and Zhang have been transferred to local police in other areas.

ChainCatcher news, according to the WeChat official account of the Shanxi Provincial Public Security Department, recently, the Xinghualing Branch of the Taiyuan Public Security Bureau in Shanxi Province has dismantled a criminal chain that provided "money laundering" services for telecom fraud gangs through the buying and selling of cigarettes and the use of virtual currency transactions. A total of 23 criminal suspects were arrested, involving 43 telecom fraud cases, with a total amount of nearly 84 million yuan.The police remind that this is a new type of money laundering method for telecom fraud, which uses the offline buying and selling of easily liquidated goods like cigarettes to "clean" illegal funds, and then further launders the money by exchanging it for virtual currency and transferring the funds abroad.

ChainCatcher news, according to CCTV News, the Public Security Bureau of Qinxian County, Jincheng City, Shanxi Province, recently successfully cracked a fraud case involving money laundering using the virtual currency USDT. A total of 21 criminal suspects were arrested, over 40 mobile phones were seized, more than 200,000 yuan in cash was confiscated, and USDT worth over 1 million yuan was recovered.Investigation revealed that since October 2021, Zhou had formed an over-the-counter trading group for USDT, purchasing USDT at low prices and then selling it at high prices through WeChat groups and score-running platforms to help individuals involved in online crimes settle payments between USDT and RMB, thereby making illegal profits. According to legal reviews, this criminal group assisted individuals involved in online crimes in settling payments of over 54.8 million USDT, equivalent to approximately 380 million yuan. (Source link)According to the police handling the case, the so-called "score-running" is a money laundering technique, which involves using one's own bank cards, POS machines, WeChat or Alipay payment QR codes, and virtual currency accounts to collect payments on behalf of others, and then transferring the funds to designated accounts, earning commissions through illegal means. USDT is a blockchain virtual currency issued by a foreign company, and due to its convenience in transactions and anonymity, it has become the preferred choice for virtual currency score-running platforms. As of now, 21 criminal suspects in this case have been subjected to criminal coercive measures in accordance with the law, and the investigation is ongoing.

ChainCatcher news, recently, the Shanxi police cracked down on a gang that manufactured and distributed fake wallets, with assistance from the blockchain data analysis company Bitrace. It is reported that this gang has long been distributing fake wallet APK installation packages through Telegram, WeChat groups, and other means, and has purchased advertising services on search engines to impersonate the official TokenPocket website, luring victims to download and install the fake wallets to steal their crypto assets. The case is currently under further investigation and trial. (source link)