A shady compound in Myanmar has become the backdrop for a massive heist, sucking over $100 million from the crypto asset sector. Chainalysis and the International Justice Mission dug deep into the digital trails of Tether tokens, uncovering a scam that’s both slick and heartless.
Tether, usually a steady crypto pegged to the dollar, unwittingly turned rogue in this elaborate con. Victims, roped in with promises of love or family emergencies, found themselves trapped in a web spun around KK Park, a mysterious spot in eastern Myanmar.
As reported earlier by TheCoinRise, Michael Saylor, the former CEO of MicroStrategy, warned Bitcoin investors of the growing number of scams in the space.
$100M in Crypto Stolen
KK Park acts like a secret city, where thousands get lured with attention before getting financially hammered. Blockchain, meant for transparency, became the stage for this shadowy act.
The masterminds behind this crypto scam remain hidden, pulling strings in the dark alongside the shady transactions they handle. As the scam spreads across borders, KK Park’s guardians, like the Karen National Union and Myanmar’s military junta, stay silent, maybe clueless or simply unbothered.
Tether Under Scrutiny
This situation turned bad for crypto firm Tether, whose USDT stablecoin is sitting on almost $100 billion. Now, the heat is on for them to scrub their transactions clean.
It is important to note that the UN’s crime watchdog has already called out Tether as a go-to for underworld dealings. Meanwhile, the firm has been swearing loyalty to law enforcement, freezing funds, and freezing shady wallets.
On the other hand, Tether fired back at the UN for calling the crypto company a means of fraud when it had collaborated with multiple regulatory agencies to recover assets lost as a result of exploits.
Chainalysis Report
A report from Chainalysis singled out two wallets linked to KK Park. The report confirmed that there are over 2,000 trafficked residents who are supposed to be living in KK Park.
“We know that they take crypto payments from scam victims. But Heintz also told us that pig butchering gangs will often tell the families of trafficked workers to pay them ransoms in exchange for their family member’s freedom—those payments also often happen in cryptocurrency.”
Eric Heintz, global analyst at the International Justice Mission, US, noted that “some scam operations may be mixing proceeds from scams with ransom payments from victim families.”
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