As much as $5.1 billion in illicit crypto transactions is estimated to be linked to the UK annually, according to a report by the National Crime Agency.
International controller networks use a variety of methods to provide money-laundering service to criminals, the report said. This links UK-generated proceeds of crime to transnational cybercrime, impacting victims worldwide.
The NCA said that crypto assets are increasingly used to launder non-digital criminal proceeds such as cash, and are acquired via escalating levels of cybercrime, including through malware and ransomware.
Malware is malicious software that can take control of a victim’s device. Ransomware is a type of software that encrypts a victim’s files or data, rendering them inaccessible. The attacker then demands a ransom, usually in crypto, in exchange for the decryption key.
The NCA earlier this year disrupted LockBit, a major ransomware enterprise, with international help including the American FBI. LockBit had targeted more than 2,000 victims and received more than $120 million in ransom payments, according to the US Justice Department.
The NCA took control of LockBit’s primary administration environment, which enabled affiliates to build and carry out attacks, as well as the group’s public-facing site on the dark web, where they had hosted and threatened to publish data stolen from victims.
In a wider action coordinated by Europol, two LockBit actors were arrested in Poland and Ukraine, and more than 200 cryptocurrency accounts linked to the group were frozen.