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> There's this misconception that bitcoin is private / "safe" for criminals. Is this why we've successfully caught every single ransomware operation transactin

> There's this misconception that bitcoin is private / "safe" for criminals. Is this why we've successfully caught every single ransomware operation transacting in crypto?

vkou 5y ago
To be fair, you have to look at the enormous number of ransomware operators that are conducting their business in fiat... Humm. I suppose that there aren't very many of them. Perhaps cryptocurrencies do make some forms of criminal enterprises much easier to operate. I'm willing to accept that 'Hitman for hire' might not be one of them, though - mostly because you need a local presence, at which point, taking payment in cash has a number of advantages. It would be quite difficult to operate a ransomware operation out of, say, Belarus if you expected your victims to pay by posting you envelopes stuffed with cash.
- jimmaswell 5y ago
  People make it out like the fiat conversion step is a big gotcha but criminals make fraudulent bank accounts with stolen/synthetic identities all the time.
  - vkou 5y ago
    Then why are ransomware operators getting paid in Bitcoin? It's not impossible to use the regular banking system for crime. But it's a lot harder, and a lot easier to get caught. A cartel in Mexico with an annual income in billions might be able to bribe or threaten the right people, but some techie running a small call center is going to have a harder time.
- curryst 5y ago
  Cash requires a known location and/or time, and may involve the client seeing your face if face-to-face trades are made. You still need to be local to perform the assassination, but the time and location are still vague. It's basically "somewhere the person will be at some point in the future". Makes it a lot harder to stage a sting because you can't have people set up everywhere that person will be at all times. We're also not terribly far away from remote assassinations being possible. There was an assassination in Iran that allegedly used a computer to control a machine gun to kill someone. Combine that with a self-driving car, or a remotely operated car, and you've got a hitman mobile. Or the cheap and low-tech route, strapping explosives to drones. The cartels have already started using them, so it's not improbable that you could pilot one across the world. Pay the cartel to set up a drone and give you the credentials to control it and you don't even have to leave your home. > It would be quite difficult to operate a ransomware operation out of, say, Belarus if you expected your victims to pay by posting you envelopes stuffed with cash. I don't think that's really true. At the scale of money we're talking about, hiring a courier to handcuff the money to their wrist and fly across the world wouldn't be an excessive cost. The primary downside is the same; there's a known location where the money will be left and picked up.
consp 5y ago
They might have enough knowledge to use other currencies as intermediaries. I think the OP means criminals in general and not ones with a bit more knowledge.
Borgz 5y ago
Do you have a source for that claim?

> There's this misconception that bitcoin is private / "safe" for criminals. Is this why we've successfully caught every single ransomware operation transacting in crypto?

vkou 5y ago

To be fair, you have to look at the enormous number of ransomware operators that are conducting their business in fiat... Humm. I suppose that there aren't very many of them. Perhaps cryptocurrencies do make some forms of criminal enterprises much easier to operate. I'm willing to accept that 'Hitman for hire' might not be one of them, though - mostly because you need a local presence, at which point, taking payment in cash has a number of advantages. It would be quite difficult to operate a ransomware operation out of, say, Belarus if you expected your victims to pay by posting you envelopes stuffed with cash.

jimmaswell 5y ago
People make it out like the fiat conversion step is a big gotcha but criminals make fraudulent bank accounts with stolen/synthetic identities all the time.
- vkou 5y ago
  Then why are ransomware operators getting paid in Bitcoin? It's not impossible to use the regular banking system for crime. But it's a lot harder, and a lot easier to get caught. A cartel in Mexico with an annual income in billions might be able to bribe or threaten the right people, but some techie running a small call center is going to have a harder time.
curryst 5y ago
Cash requires a known location and/or time, and may involve the client seeing your face if face-to-face trades are made. You still need to be local to perform the assassination, but the time and location are still vague. It's basically "somewhere the person will be at some point in the future". Makes it a lot harder to stage a sting because you can't have people set up everywhere that person will be at all times. We're also not terribly far away from remote assassinations being possible. There was an assassination in Iran that allegedly used a computer to control a machine gun to kill someone. Combine that with a self-driving car, or a remotely operated car, and you've got a hitman mobile. Or the cheap and low-tech route, strapping explosives to drones. The cartels have already started using them, so it's not improbable that you could pilot one across the world. Pay the cartel to set up a drone and give you the credentials to control it and you don't even have to leave your home. > It would be quite difficult to operate a ransomware operation out of, say, Belarus if you expected your victims to pay by posting you envelopes stuffed with cash. I don't think that's really true. At the scale of money we're talking about, hiring a courier to handcuff the money to their wrist and fly across the world wouldn't be an excessive cost. The primary downside is the same; there's a known location where the money will be left and picked up.

consp 5y ago

They might have enough knowledge to use other currencies as intermediaries. I think the OP means criminals in general and not ones with a bit more knowledge.

Borgz 5y ago

Do you have a source for that claim?