when

April

Dubai

<p class="is-style-lead">Do Kwon remains in a tug-of-war between the U.S. and South Korea. Meanwhile, prosecutors are continuing to clamp down on crypto mixers.</p> 
<p>April’s been a pretty significant month when it comes to crypto crime.</p> 
<p>Where else to start than with Changpeng Zhao, who has been <a href="https://crypto.news/binance-founder-changpeng-zhao-sentenced-to-4-months-in-prison/" rel="">sentenced</a> to four months in prison after enabling money laundering at Binance.</p> 
<p>He will now become the richest man ever sent to prison — but critics <a href="https://crypto.news/too-harsh-or-too-lenient-changpeng-zhaos-sentence-divides-opinion/" rel="">claim</a> there’s been an “egregious miscarriage of justice” given prosecutors had been seeking three years.</p> 
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   <p lang="en" dir="ltr">One of <a href="https://twitter.com/binance?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">@Binance</a>’s compliance employees wrote the company needs "a banner 'is washing drug money too hard these days – come to Binance, we got cake for you.'" <br><br>On <a href="https://twitter.com/Bloomberg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">@Bloomberg</a> TV <a href="https://twitter.com/DennisKelleher?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">@DennisKelleher</a> called out the <a href="https://twitter.com/TheJusticeDept?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">@TheJusticeDept</a> for failing to hold the company and the individuals… <a href="https://t.co/AhNIRm0D9M" target="_blank" rel="">pic.twitter.com/AhNIRm0D9M</a></p>— Better Markets (@BetterMarkets) <a href="https://twitter.com/BetterMarkets/status/1786018808349544581?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">May 2, 2024</a>
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<p>It’s a stark contrast to the 25-year jail term handed to doomed entrepreneur <a href="https://crypto.news/tag/sam-bankman-fried/" rel="">Sam Bankman-Fried</a>.</p> 
<p>We found out this month that SBF has agreed to help investors in FTX — the self-same company he led to bankruptcy — <a href="https://crypto.news/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-investors-celebrity-endorsers/" rel="">pursue</a> cases against celebs who endorsed the exchange.</p> 
<p>It’s a bizarre turn of events, especially considering the one-time CEO would have had a role hiring them in the first place.</p> 
<p>And it might rub salt in the wound for the likes of NFL legend Tom Brady, who <a href="https://crypto.news/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-investors-celebrity-endorsers/" rel="">reportedly</a> lost $30 million when the trading platform spectacularly collapsed.</p> 
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   <p lang="en" dir="ltr">see you on the inside 🤝 <a href="https://t.co/eTcjjQb0D7" target="_blank" rel="">pic.twitter.com/eTcjjQb0D7</a></p>— Tiffany Fong (@TiffanyFong_) <a href="https://twitter.com/TiffanyFong_/status/1785392750193746077?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">April 30, 2024</a>
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<p>Also on the roll call of fallen crypto heavyweights, there’s been a lot going on with <a href="https://crypto.news/tag/do-kwon/" rel="">Do Kwon</a> recently.</p> 
<p>The Terraform Labs co-founder went on the run after the implosion of two cryptocurrencies wiped $40 billion from the market — and was arrested in Montenegro last year after trying to fly to Dubai using a fake passport.</p> 
<p>Kwon’s been embroiled in a tug-of-war between the U.S. and his native South Korea, which have both filed competing <a href="https://crypto.news/do-kwon-extradition-approved-again/" rel="">extradition</a> requests so he can face criminal charges.</p> 
<p>But there’s been all sorts of legal ping-pong that’s ultimately prevented a flight from taking off.</p> 
<p>In the meantime, a civil case against Kwon and Terraform Labs has continued at speed in New York — with a jury <a href="https://crypto.news/jury-finds-terraform-labs-do-kwon-guilty-on-fraud-charges/" rel="">finding</a> them guilty of fraud charges. The Securities and Exchange Commission is now <a href="https://crypto.news/sec-seeks-5-3b-in-penalty-from-terraform-labs-and-co-founder-do-kwon/" rel="">seeking</a> a whopping $5.3 billion penalty.</p> 
<p>We’ve also been covering a slew of other arrests and convictions.</p> 
<p>A social media influencer called Jabara Igbara — otherwise known as “Jay Mazini” was <a href="https://crypto.news/crypto-fraudster-jay-mazini-to-forfeit-10m-in-religious-ponzi/" rel="">sentenced</a> to seven years behind bars for stealing over $8 million from Muslims via a crypto fraud scheme.&nbsp;</p> 
<p>Prosecutors depicted him as a “conman” who deceived unsuspecting victims by pretending he was successful on Instagram — and gambled away his ill-gotten gains.</p> 
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  <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="938" src="https://crypto.news/app/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-03-at-09.16.27-1024x938.png" alt="CZ sentenced and SBF's deal: April's crypto crime round-up - 28"> 
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  Jay Mazini | Source: Instagram
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<p>The U.S. Department of Justice also continued its unrelenting campaign against crypto mixers — with <a href="https://crypto.news/doj-arrests-samourai-wallet-founder-over-2b-illegal-money-flow/" rel="">charges</a> brought against Samourai Wallet founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill.</p> 
<p>All of this relates to fears that such tools are being used by malicious actors to launder funds and evade sanctions — and if convicted, Rodriguez could face 20 years behind bars.</p> 
<p>Samourai Wallet’s website has now been seized — and this is what it currently looks like:</p> 
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  Samourai Wallet website seized | Source: U.S. DOJ
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="oh-so-many-hacks">Oh so many hacks</h2> 
<p>There were a fair few exploits worth mentioning as well.&nbsp;</p> 
<p>One trader <a href="https://crypto.news/trader-loses-over-180k-in-usdc-andy-to-phishing-attack/" rel="">lost</a> over $180,000 worth of crypto after falling victim to a phishing attack on Ethereum, with their wallet drained in just 50 minutes.</p> 
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   <p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PeckShieldAlert?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">#PeckShieldAlert</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Phishing?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">#Phishing</a> An address 0x36B4…7703 has fallen victim to a phishing attack, resulting in a loss of ~1.6B <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24ANDY&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">$ANDY</a>(worth ~$162.4K) &amp; ~18K <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24USDC&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">$USDC</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Fake_Phishing187019?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">#Fake_Phishing187019</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Fake_Phishing188615?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">#Fake_Phishing188615</a> <a href="https://t.co/2FQPNKmz8z" target="_blank" rel="">pic.twitter.com/2FQPNKmz8z</a></p>— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeckShieldAlert/status/1782653492735430785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">April 23, 2024</a>
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<p>Meanwhile, El Salvador’s state-controlled Bitcoin wallet — “Chivo” — has suffered a second data breach, with malicious actors <a href="https://crypto.news/hackers-leak-el-salvadors-chivo-bitcoin-wallet-code/" rel="">leaking</a> source code and VPN credentials for ATMs.</p> 
<p>Earlier this month, personal information belonging to five million Salvadorans — a 144GB treasure trove of data — was also exposed online.</p> 
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  CiberInteligenciaSV Telegram post | Source: Telegram
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<p>A 71-year-old digital artist in India <a href="https://crypto.news/nft-scam-in-india-sees-71-year-old-digital-artist-losing-money-in-bogus-platform-fees/" rel="">fell victim</a> to scammers who pretended to be interested in his NFTs.</p> 
<p>Bad news too for an investor who <a href="https://crypto.news/trader-loses-800k-in-crypto-to-malicious-google-chrome-extension/" rel="">lost</a> an eye-watering $800,000 because of two malicious Google Chrome extensions — amid fears they actually contained keyloggers. The victim, known as “Sell By Over” on X, wrote:</p> 
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 <p><strong>“This is a $800k costly mistake — lesson is if anything seems off such that it prompts you to input a seed, then wipe the whole PC first.”</strong></p> <cite>Sell By Over on X</cite>
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<p>And there have continued to be a slew of hacks targeting high-profile accounts on social media.</p> 
<p>Spider-Man star Tom Holland, who has seven million followers on X, saw his account <a href="https://crypto.news/spider-man-star-tom-hollands-x-account-hacked-to-push-crypto-scam/" rel="">taken over</a> by attackers who falsely promoted “SPIDER” tokens and Spiderverse NFTs.</p> 
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   <p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tom Holland’s Twitter/X account has been hacked. <a href="https://t.co/ZPRYI6GXgK" target="_blank" rel="">pic.twitter.com/ZPRYI6GXgK</a></p>— Cosmic Marvel (@cosmic_marvel) <a href="https://twitter.com/cosmic_marvel/status/1780376835345338836?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">April 16, 2024</a>
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<p>While the fake posts claimed the digital assets were being launched in conjunction with Binance, they linked off to a scam website.</p> 
<p>In a particularly weird (and unusual) development, it also appears that the hacker may have uploaded a selfie to the celebrity’s account.</p> 
<p> Read more: <a href="https://crypto.news/certik-damage-from-hacks-scams-reaches-lowest-level-since-2021/" rel=""> CertiK: Damage from hacks, scams reaches lowest level since 2021 </a> </p>

CZ sentenced and SBF’s deal: April’s crypto crime round-up

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