Wang's Ties to Thailand's Elite Led to Funds Seizure by US AuthoritiesUS authorities have taken control of digital currency valued at roughly $500,000 from an account linked to a Chinese individual involved in a fraudulent crypto-investment scheme.The scheme, known as "pig butchering," manipulates individuals into investing in fake cryptocurrency ventures through online... source: https://www.coingabbar.com/en/crypto-currency-news/us-authorities-focusing-on-strict-crypto-rules

The IRS Criminal Investigation unit listed its ten top fraud schemes of the year, with four of them involving crypto. source: https://www.theblock.co/post/267293/irs-counts-down-biggest-crypto-fraud-schemes-of-the-year?utm_source=cryptopanic&utm_medium=rss

According to CryptoPotato, a circuit court in Estonia has overturned a previous ruling that allowed the extradition of two Estonian citizens charged with cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering to the United States. The court found that the Estonian government did not consider certain circumstances before agreeing to extradite Ivan Turogin and Sergei Potapenko, who ran a virtual currency mining business called HashFlare. The Tallinn Circuit Court annulled the extradition because the government did not investigate or verify the condition of the US detention facility. Turogin and Potapenko were arrested in Estonia in November 2022 for allegedly running a fraudulent crypto service that resulted in the loss of $575 million for users. The Department of Justice (DOJ) accused both individuals of making victims purchase equipment mining contracts for HashFlare and urging them to invest in a crypto bank called Polybius, which promised to pay dividends to investors. However, investigations revealed that the mining contracts were fake, and Polybius was not a bank and did not pay any dividends. Instead, the DOJ stated that Turoguin and Potapenko ran a Ponzi scheme defrauding “hundreds of thousands of victims” between 2015 and 2019. Following the arrest of the HashFlare co-founders, the US government sought to extradite the Estonian citizens to the United States. However, the latest development may prevent the handover from happening. The circuit court fined the Estonian government 46,365.30 euros ($50,809.65) and 50,710 euros ($55,531) to cover Turogin’s and Potapenko’s expenses. In addition, Turogin and Potapenko’s families will get reimbursements of 4,080 euros (~$4,500) and 3,000 euros (~$330), respectively. The circuit court’s decision can be appealed by Dec. 11, 2023.

Mastercard revealed that it has partnered with regulatory technology platform Feedzai to enhance detection and resolution of fraud spread through crypto exchanges. Through the partnership, Feedzai will integrate directly with Mastercard’s CipherTrace Armada platform, which is used to help banks monitor transactions on more than 6,000 crypto exchanges to prevent fraud, money laundering and other suspicious activity. It is reported that Feedzai is a regulatory technology platform that aims to use artificial intelligence to combat online money laundering and financial fraud. The partnership will also give Mastercard access to Feedzai’s artificial intelligence technology. Feedzai says its software can identify and block suspicious transactions in nanoseconds, but it can also identify legitimate transactions. (CNBC)

According to CoinDesk, multiple U.S. states have ordered GS Partners to halt operations, accusing the company of defrauding investors in various crypto schemes, including tokenized pieces of a Dubai skyscraper and stakes of metaverse property. The operation, known as GS Partners, is an organization that comprises GSB Gold Standard Bank Ltd., Swiss Valorem Bank Ltd., and GSB Gold Standard Corporation AG, all allegedly controlled by Josip Dortmund Heit. The businesses hired sports celebrities such as former boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and footballer Roberto Carlos to draw attention to an array of investments, regulators said. The affiliated businesses are accused of violating state laws when they "offered and sold unqualified securities and made material misrepresentations and omissions to investors related to crypto asset investments," according to the case filed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. Texas, Alabama, and other jurisdictions are pursuing similar actions. The business has been "broadly perpetrating various fraudulent investment schemes that are threatening immediate and irreparable public harm," according to an action from the Texas State Securities Board. These investment schemes are often marketed as unique opportunities to earn lucrative profits and secure generational wealth through blockchain technology, a metaverse, liquidity and staking pools, a tokenized skyscraper, and digital assets purportedly convertible to physical gold. One part of the business offered digital assets tied to the metaverse's Lydian World, and another investments in a 36-story "G999 Tower" in Dubai. The business also operated a multi-level marketing platform that offered “MetaCertificates.” Heit and other GS Partners executives, including Bruce Innes Wylde Hughes and Dirc Zahlmann, are directly named in the actions. Neither Heit nor the company immediately responded to attempts to reach them through business sites and social media.

Odaily Planet Daily News Encrypted fraud prevention and protection company Fire plans to launch Fire Wallet, which aims to simplify usage, including making every transaction readable. Users are currently prioritized for access by joining a waitlist.

Odaily Planet Daily News South Korea’s virtual asset crime joint investigation team has launched an investigation into three cryptocurrency-related fraud allegations, including Delio and Haru Invest’s executives’ alleged fraud, Pica’s issuer Pica Project’s executives’ alleged fraud, and Wemix’s issuer WeMade Executives are suspected of fraud. It is reported that the joint investigation team plans to deal with the current case quickly. (Hankyung) According to yesterday’s news, the Korea Virtual Asset Crime Joint Investigation Team was formally established. At the inauguration ceremony, South Korean Attorney General Li Yuanxi (transliteration) stated that the establishment of the group is to help the early virtual asset market not shrink, eliminate risks, take root stably, improve transparency and credibility, protect market participants, and promote the development of the national economy. . Strengthening the response to virtual asset crimes is a global trend, and the U.S. Department of Justice also has a virtual asset law enforcement unit.

Crypto fraud prevention and protection company Fire has raised $3.5 million in a new round led by Atomic. Fire currently supports more than 50,000 wallets on networks such as Ethereum, Polygon, Optimism, and Arbitrum.

The scamsters had collected the money on the pretext of investing in their upcoming cryptocurrency, whose value they claimed to be $2.5, one of the victims was reported as saying.