US Authorities Reveal Bitcoin Black Market Sting Operation
A 19-year-old Florida man has been arrested and charged with smuggling and possessing a deadly toxin. Authorities say he sold the illegal substance abrin (known as 'the most poisonous plant in the world') to law enforcement agents for bitcoin through Black Market Reloaded. Investigators allege that LaBelle, Florida, resident Jesse William Koff had been stockpiling and selling abrin, a natural poison produced by plant seeds, since November 2013. After months of planning, an undercover agent in New Jersey made the arrest on 18th January, The Associated Press reports. Notably, subsequent....
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A clandestine operation conducted by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), in conjunction with the United States Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), has resulted in the toppling of an international illegal operation connected to bitcoin. The activities were partially funded through bitcoin and occurred through the so called “dark web,” which is a distributed network where many online black market services are provided. According to the press release issued by Australian authorities, the multinational sting was initiated when the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS)....
Norway police made their largest drug bust ever last month when they arrested 15 people selling drugs on what they claim is the second version of the notorious Silk Road online marketplace that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation closed in 2013, according to the The Local Europe AB, a Swedish news source. Kripos, Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service, launched Operation Marco Polo, the nation’s largest operation against organized drug crime, on the dark web. Verdens Gang, an Oslo, Norway newspaper reported this week that the sting resulted in the arrested of 15 people,....
Two men in Florida have been arrested and charged following transactions arranged on the LocalBitcoins.com service, which allows bitcoin enthusiasts to buy and sell bitcoin with locals in-person. The men were charged with violating state anti-money laundering laws along with operating an unregistered money services business. The Miami Beach Police Department and the United States Secret Service Miami Electronic Crimes Task Force reportedly contacted individuals on the service looking to sell high volumes of the digital currency in what was to be a sting operation. One of those very....
In an ill- researched segment on Bitcoin, an Indian private media outlet aired a ‘sting’ operation video titled Bitcoin Scam: Online Money Laundering Racket Exposed In Sting Video. The video shows touts willing to launder black money following the demonitisation drive by the Indian Government. The touts/brokers in the video are shown to be assuring the investments in bitcoin against the revoked fiat money. The video in vague terms paints Bitcoin as the dark internet secret which is inherently evil and tags the entire cryptocurrency and blockchain community as the “online black bazaar where....
The difference in the official and unofficial rate for Argentinian pesos is now so pronounced that at least one bitcoin exchange has acknowledged it. Localbitcoins.com has decided to publish a 'blue dollar' exchange rate for the currency. The escrow-based decentralised bitcoin exchange service has produced a symbol for the blue dollar rate called XAR, and is using it to calculate bitcoin exchange rates. The black market rate in Argentina is a result of rocketing inflation, and tension over a possible default. This has led Argentinians to hoard dollars, while the authorities have imposed....