Crooks opt for Monero as crypto of choice to launder ill-gotten gains
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Crooks are increasingly turning to Monero over Bitcoin, according to a new study on the economics of cybercrime. Many cybercriminals are using virtual currency to convert the illegal proceeds of crime into hard cash and assets.
Digital payment systems are used to help hide the money trail. Law enforcement monero money are monitoring Bitcoin monero money, causing many miscreants to look for alternatives. Connecting transactions to individuals monero money possible in the case of up to 60 percent of Bitcoin payments because details can leak during web transactions — typically via trackers or cookies.
McGuire monero money El Reg that the switch to Monero was only partly driven by the growing incidence of clickjacking attackswhich have come to rival ransomware in prevalence if not impact.
Covert data collection in online forums alongside interviews with experts and cybercriminals by Dr McGuire also revealed that an monero money 10 per cent of cybercriminals are using PayPal to launder money. A further 35 percent use other digital payment systems, including Skrill, Dwoll, Zoom, and mobile payment systems like M-Pesa.
Methods like "micro laundering", monero money thousands of small electronic payments are made through platforms like PayPal, are increasingly common and more difficult to detect. Another common technique is to use online transactions — via sites like eBay — to facilitate laundering. Crooks are circumventing PayPal and eBay's anti-fraud controls, even though both are "getting better at picking up laundering techniques", according to Dr McGuire.
Social engineering and 'gaming' laundering offers one kind of approach. There are several methods such as manipulating transactions. It would be impossible to investigate every transaction monero money this size.
By making repeated small payments, or monero money transactions, your profile begins to gain the 'trust' of monero money systems, which makes it even harder to detect laundering as payments are less likely to be flagged. Cybercriminals are also gaining access or control of legitimate PayPal accounts by phishing emails.
I also saw it was easy to buy stolen credentials from online forums to gain access to hundreds of PayPal accounts which can then be used to launder payments. McGuire said cybercriminals are working with the fraud controls to then manipulate them by applying monero money go beyond current annual payment limits and then providing false or hacked documentation to support the checks which permit larger payments.
El Reg ran these aspects of the research past eBay and PayPal with a request for comment. We'll update this story as and when we hear more.
Cybercriminals elsewhere are active in converting stolen income into video game currency or in-game monero money like gold, which are then converted into Bitcoin or other electronic formats. The findings come from a monero money study into the macro economics of cybercrime, sponsored by infosec vendor Bromium. Into the Web of Profit draws together research gathered from first-hand interviews with convicted cybercriminals, data from international law enforcement agencies and financial institutions as well as covert observations conducted across the dark web.
Digital payment systems are most effective when combined monero money other digital resources, like virtual currencies and online banking. This hides the money trail and confuses law enforcement and financial regulators. The Register - Independent news and views for monero money tech community. Part of Situation Publishing.
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Playing PayPal Crooks are circumventing PayPal and eBay's anti-fraud controls, even though both are "getting better at picking up laundering techniques", according to Dr McGuire. There's gold in them thar games Cybercriminals elsewhere are active in converting stolen income into video game currency or in-game items like gold, which are then converted into Bitcoin or other electronic formats.
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