c/buttcoin · by Sibshops@lemmy.myserv.one · 317d

“Bitcoin Queen” gets 11 years in prison for $7.3 billion Bitcoin scam

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/bitcoin-queen-gets-11-years-in-prison-for-73-billion-bitcoin-scam/

cross-posted from: https://infosec.pub/post/37527321

A Chinese woman known as the "Bitcoin Queen" was sentenced in London to 11 years and eight months in jail for laundering Bitcoin from a £5.5 billion ($7.3 billion) cryptocurrency investment scheme. [...]

5 points · 10 comments · view on lemmy.world

10 Comments

partial_accumen@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 317d (9 replies)

Honest question, How exactly does one "launder" Bitcoin?

Is it just a regular exercise of making purchases with Bitcoin into other physical assets or possibly straight cash for those wanting Bitcoin when they already have cash?

Sibshops@lemmy.myserv.one · 2 pts · 316d (1 reply)

There are two popular ways to launder bitcoin that this article doesn't really cover.

Use a non KYC bridge to convert bitcoin to a privacy chain like monero, then when they want to use it, convert it to another currency like USDC. This effectively erases where the money came from and looks like clean money.
Use a mixer which is a giant wallet shared by many people. Then the person laundering can send the cash directly from the wallet in small amounts when they want to use it.

partial_accumen@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 316d

Thank you for sharing that. This is the answer I was looking for. I don't do crypto myself so this is a fascinating peek into that world.

nymnympseudonym@piefed.social · 2 pts · 317d (6 replies)

Oh, the usual way: with a pedophile grifter running churches and romance scams

https://www.vcpost.com/articles/124570/20240214/bitcoin-money-launderer-fake-churches-pocket-millions-romance-elderly-victims.htm

co-conspirators opened and operated accounts at financial institutions in the names of various churches including the Shire Free Church, the Church of the Invisible Hand, the Crypto Church of New Hampshire, and the NH Peace Church

partial_accumen@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 317d (5 replies)

From your link:

Victims testified to the financial impact of the scams. One victim claimed that she lost her life savings after a man she met on a dating site told her to send $300,000 to Ian Freeman, while another took out three loans and sold her husband's truck to send money to the scammer in a similar scheme.

I will always be shocked how someone could come by $300,000 (through legitimate or illegitimate means) and simply pass that whole sum to someone else without understanding the enormous risk they take on themselves.

nymnympseudonym@piefed.social · 2 pts · 317d (4 replies)

be elderly
have no human contact
someone acts like they really love you

Don't judge people at their weakest being preyed on by the most cynical

partial_accumen@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 316d (3 replies)

be elderly

If by saying "be elderly" you mean "being cognitively compromised by natural aging", then sure I can see that, but usually those that have massed that level of wealth have people to shield them from these kind of scams. Still, on this list this one I agree is the most likely.

have no human contact

I seems like a very rare use case for someone to have $300,000 in liquid assets/cash that would not have human contact. I'm not saying its impossible, but it seems like the confluence of those two things would be extremely rare.

someone acts like they really love you

I would think someone asking you for $300,000 would be a sign they don't really love you.

nymnympseudonym@piefed.social · 1 pts · 316d (2 replies)

TBH $300k isn't that much for a lifetime of savings. That's a nice house and maybe 1 year of top salary.

It's not like a million or two

partial_accumen@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 316d (1 reply)

Everything is relative. Top salaries you're referring to are a very small fraction of workers today. For many $300k is indeed a life savings.

nymnympseudonym@piefed.social · 1 pts · 316d

Just saying For an elderly person today (ofc these were victims ~3-4 years ago now), it's not all that surprising to (a) have amassed $300k net worth, and (b) give it away to scammer because people crave human connection