[Japanese authorities track down Monero and arrest 18 people in $670,000 money laundering case]
Japanese authorities recently arrested a fraud ring consisting of 18 suspects, the first time a case has been solved through analysis of Monero transactions. The gang conducted approximately 900 Monero money-laundering transactions, totaling 100 million yen (approximately $670,000). This is also the first time that Monero transactions have been used to identify suspects in Japan. The leader of the gang, Yuta Kobayashi, was arrested on charges of using Monero for money laundering and computer fraud.
The gang has been under investigation since August by the National Police Agency’s Special Cyber Investigation Unit, which was established in April this year to address the growing problem of cybercrime. At this time, authorities have not revealed specific details of Monero transaction analysis.
In addition, cryptocurrency-related crime cases are increasing day by day. In August this year, four Chinese men forced a victim to transfer $2 million in cryptocurrency in Thailand; in July, a Bitcoin owner was strangled to death in Kiev, Ukraine; in June, a victim was forced to transfer at knifepoint in London 1,000 Ethereum event, with a total value of over $2.5 million.
Cryptocurrency scams and exploits remain major concerns. In the past 13 years, there have been 785 encryption attacks worldwide, resulting in $19 billion in losses. $542.7 million has been stolen in the first quarter of 2024, a 42% increase from the same period in 2023, showing that the problem of attacks has not diminished.
