Tag: fbi

Crypto Criminals Not on Holiday, Scams Like 3Commas and ‘Pig Butchering’ Continue to Strike

The crypto sector, thriving in several parts of the world, was struck with several hack and scam attacks this year. Even a couple of days before the industrially quaky year of 2022 ends, news and warning around crypto crimes have made it to the headlines. This week, the private API keys of around 1,00,000 crypto users were leaked on public domains. The victims were all users of 3Commas, an Estonia-based crypto trading service. The incident added more stress to the already disturbed crypto sector that has drastically dropped down in valuation to a yearly low to $795 billion (roughly Rs. 65,87,830 crore).

3Commas lets users set up an automated feature that has bots initiate trades on third party exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, and KuCoin on behalf of the users.

An anonymous hacker, as confirmed by 3Commas, had been at work since October that reportedly resulted in a loss of user funds up to $12 million (roughly Rs. 100 crore) via unconsented transactions. These transactions were processed via 3Commas on exchanges like Binance and Coinbase.

Previously, the company was exploring if these unverified transactions were being triggered by phishing attacks.

Several members of the crypto community, including Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, shared awareness and safety suggestions for others.

The incident comes in the backdrop of crypto crimes gaining more and more pace around the world.

US’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned crypto investors there about a new technique of ongoing scams — called the ‘pig butchering’. In these instances, scammers get potential victims to move their investments to cryptocurrency. Once their digital wallet ‘fattens’, these scammers hack and steal the funds.

“Be very careful when you go on social media and dating apps and somebody starts developing a relationship with you, and wants you to start investing. Don’t get butchered,” Bitcoin.com quoted Frank Fisher, public affairs specialist at the FBI’s Albuquerque division, as saying.

Back in November, the authorities in the US reportedly claimed to have identified and confiscated seven domain names that were exploited in pig butchering scams.

In a recent report, Chainalysis claimed that the month of October has been the worst in terms of crypto-related crimes. The crypto sector lost over $718 million (roughly Rs. 5,890 crore) owing to such crimes.

Back-to-back hack attacks on the digital assets sector contributed heavily to how the market turned-out to reach its current low valuation of $795 billion (roughly Rs. 65,87,830 crore).

Glassnode, in its latest report, has claimed that most Bitcoin holders have moved their holdings to self-custodial crypto wallets. Glassnode has estimated that around 550,000 Bitcoin worth $9.2 billion (roughly Rs. 76,760 crore) have left crypto exchanges.

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FBI warns criminals using low-profile rideshares to abduct kids in alarming ‘trend’

Criminals are carrying out a disturbing trend where they are using ride-sharing vehicles to abduct minors, according to one of the nation’s top law enforcement agencies. 

“It’s affected my school life, my friends, my family,” one 15-year-old girl who was a victim of an attempted abduction said in 2019, according to ABC News. “It’s had such a negative impact on me. Everywhere I go, I feel scared because I’m so much more aware of my surroundings now.”

The teenager recounted that she had frequently used ride-sharing services in the New York area, but in the summer of 2019, an Uber driver picked her up and tried to abduct her. The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office said at the time that the driver tried to force her to go to her home, “where he intended to sexually assault her.” 

Now, the FBI is warning that similar incidents have become a “trend,” and issued a public service announcement making Americans aware. 

“Since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, law enforcement received several reports of rideshare services being used to facilitate child abduction,” the FBI said last month in the PSA, the Hill reported. 

The federal agency warned that the criminals are using ride-sharing vehicles due to the “lower likelihood of detection and ease of facilitation.”

Criminals are beginning to use ride-sharing vehicles to abduct kids at an alarming rate.
Getty Images

“While other modes of transportation were used during the pandemic, the privacy of ride-share services allowed criminal actors to obfuscate potential witness identification and afforded them direct transportation,” the FBI stated.

The FBI specifically pointed to one incident this year, when a 16-year-old Texas boy who requested an Uber ride found himself abducted. The teenager had ordered an Uber for a roughly 20-mile trip in April and was allegedly offered something to drink during the ride. The boy woke up later that day at a home 31 miles away from his destination. He fled the property to a nearby home and alerted authorities. 

In another case cited by the FBI, a child was abducted in Mexico City in February when the 7-year-old boy’s father asked a ride-share driver to make a pit stop at a flower stand. The father exited the vehicle and the driver left with the young boy. The child was recovered after he called his mom from the car. 

Car-share services have exploded in popularity over the last decade. Even though Uber and Lyft ban people under the age of 18 from having their own accounts or from riding in car shares without a guardian, some still get around the rules by using an adult’s account. 

“I know a lot of drivers who’ve faced outraged parents,” Larry Duncan, a Lyft driver in Bowling Green, Kentucky, told Vox in 2019. “They yell and scream for you to give their kids a ride, and what some of us try to do, we say that the parent can ride with the kid, but they can’t be alone.”

A study in 2019 found that many parents were concerned about their kids taking ride-share services alone, citing a bevy of reasons such as teens not wearing seatbelts or the driver being distracted by their phone or speeding. 

One of the top concerns, was that the minors would be sexually assaulted by a driver, according to the 2019 Ipsos Public Affairs study. Nearly 80% of parents of daughters were worried their child would face assault, while 55% of parents worried the same could happen to their sons. 

The FBI is making sure to educated Americans about the horrifying trend.
Getty Images

“Safety is paramount to the Uber experience and the report outlined by the FBI is extremely concerning,” an Uber spokesperson told Fox News Digital when approached for comment on the FBI’s PSA. “We are always working to build features and policies designed with safety in mind, which is why we’ve introduced many safety features into the app, like the Emergency Button; Live Help from a Safety Agent; Text-to-911 capability (where available); and GPS tracking on every trip. We also aim to do our part to raise awareness of these societal issues through education to help drivers spot the signs of human trafficking and report it.”

The spokesperson also noted that all drivers undergo “background checks on the federal, state and local level,” and that riders “must provide valid phone numbers, email addresses, and payment methods in order to use the platform – which is more than many other forms of transportation require.”

“We know our work on safety is never done, and we’re committed to always working to raise the bar.”

Experts have also warned that teenagers are often more timid about speaking up if something feels off during their ride.

“Teens may feel awkward or inhibited to speak up if they notice a driver is not driving safely or if something does ‘not feel right’ about the car or the driver,” pediatrician and co-director of the 2019 poll Gary Freed told the Detroit Free Press. “Parents should empower their teens to feel comfortable to speak out or refuse a ride. They should be reminded that they are getting into a vehicle with someone they do not know, and that it is essential for them be especially attentive to anything that may risk their safety.”

The FBI is calling on anyone who sees suspicious behavior to report it to local authorities immediately.

Lyft did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the FBI’s PSA. 

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Bidens’ $5M China loan part of ‘pay-to-play’ scheme: Sen. Grassley

A $5 million interest-free loan the Biden family received from a Chinese energy conglomerate in 2017 should have been probed by the FBI as part of a possible “pay-to-play” plan, Sen. Chuck Grassley told top law enforcement officials last week.

In an Oct. 13 letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Delaware US Attorney David Weiss, Grassley (R-Iowa) questioned whether the bureau is fully investigating corruption allegations against first son Hunter Biden and demanded a “full and unredacted FBI summary” of Hunter business partner Tony Bobulinski’s October 2020 FBI interview.

According to Grassley, Bobulinski told investigators that Hunter and first brother James Biden were contracted to assist CEFC China Energy “with potential business deals and investments while Joe Biden was Vice President; however, that work remained intentionally uncompensated while Joe Biden was Vice President.

“After Joe Biden left the Vice Presidency, the summary makes clear that Hunter Biden and James Biden worked with CEFC and affiliated individuals to compensate them for that past work and the benefits they procured for CEFC,” Grassley went on. “According to the summary, Hunter Biden, James Biden and their business associates created a joint venture that would serve as a vehicle to accomplish that financial compensation, and that arrangement was made sometime after a meeting in Miami between Hunter Biden and CEFC officials in February 2017.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley accused President Biden of conducting a possible “pay-to-play” scheme with China.
AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib
Hunter Biden’s former business partner Tony Bobulinski (above) and another partner, James Gilliar, used to refer to Joe Biden as “the big guy.”
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

In a July 26, 2017 email to Bobulinski — first revealed by The Post in October 2020 — CEFC executive Zhao Runlong wrote that the company “fully support the framework of establishing the [joint venture], based on their trust on BD [Biden] family.”

Zhao added that “5 million is lent to BD family in the 10 million charter capital … This 5 million loan to BD family is interest-free. But if the 5M is used up, should CEFC keep lending more to the family? If CEFC lends more, they need to know the interest rate for the subsequent loan(s).”

The $5 million was originally meant to be sent through the joint venture, dubbed SinoHawk and co-owned by Oneida, a holding company made up of five LLCs, two of which were controlled by Hunter and James Biden.

According to a report, investigators think they have enough evidence to indict Hunter Biden on tax crime charges.
AP Photo/Andy Wong, Pool

However, Grassley said, the money had not been sent at the time of Zhao’s email to Bobulinski, and “James Biden considered calling CEFC officials and threatening to withdraw Biden family support from future deals.”

The following month, in August 2017, $5 million was wired from “a company connected to CEFC” to Hudson West III, a company jointly owned at the time by Hunter Biden’s law firm Owasco and Coldharbour Capital LLC, which Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) tied to another CEFC executive, Gongwen Dong, in a September 2020 report.

The money, Grassley wrote last week, was later transferred to Owasco and James Biden’s own consulting company, the Lion Hall Group.

President Biden has long denied discussing Hunter’s business deals.
Chris Kleponis / Pool via CNP / SplashNews.com

The first family’s arrangements with CEFC are among the most scrutinized of Hunter Biden’s overseas business interests after a May 13, 2017 email — also revealed by The Post in 2020 — showed that Bobulinski, Hunter Biden, and two other business partners planned split equity in a planned business venture with the company four ways.

According to the email, each of the foursome would get 20% of the shares in the new company, with 10% going to James Biden and the remaining 10% “held by H for the big guy?” – a phrase Bobulinski and another partner, James Gilliar, used to refer to Joe Biden.

The president has repeatedly denied ever discussing Hunter’s overseas business arrangements with his offspring, a stance that has come under scrutiny due to evidence gathered from the first son’s abandoned laptop.

The Post has previously reported on extensive findings from Hunter Biden’s laptop.

“The Justice Department and FBI must come clean to Congress and the American people with respect to the steps they have taken, or failed to take, relating to the Hunter Biden investigation,” Grassley wrote.

The letter was sent one week after the Washington Post reported that investigators believe they have enough evidence to indict Hunter Biden on tax crime charges, as well as making a false statement about his drug use on a federal gun purchase form.

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Director Christopher Wray’s use of FBI jet amounts to ’embezzlement,’ current, ex-agents allege

Former and current FBI agents are fuming about Director Christopher Wray’s use of the FBI’s private jet, which originally was intended by Congress only to be used for counterterrorism purposes. 

A lot of other Americans would like to know why Wray cut short a Senate oversight hearing on Aug. 4 to fly in the FBI jet to his family holiday destination in the Adirondacks, after telling Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) that he had “business” to attend to. 

Republican members of Congress sent a formal letter to Wray on Aug. 15 asking whether the flight was in “compliance with the applicable federal regulations and requirements” and whether he is “properly reimbursing federal taxpayers for your personal travel aboard government aircraft.” 

The FBI’s Gulfstream G550 doesn’t appear to have visited Saranac Lake again since The Post first reported on that trip, and two other flights on June 2 and June 5, 2022. 

But the jet has been flying back and forth an awful lot to Atlanta, where Wray has a house in the exclusive Buckhead district. 

Atlanta frequent flyer 

According to flight monitoring website FlightRadar24, the Gulfstream has made eight trips in the past four months to Atlanta, most recently last Tuesday, Oct. 11. 

It could be that Wray has important FBI business in Atlanta, but it currently is the No. 1 most popular destination for the FBI jet — and Wray’s roots in the city run deep. 

Wray’s wife, Helen Howell Wray, is from Atlanta, where her family has been part of the elite for seven generations. 

Wray told Sen. Chuck Grassley that he had to leave a Senate oversight hearing on Aug. 4 for “business” — but then flew to a family vacation destination in upstate New York.
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

Although Wray was born in New York and spent summers in the Adirondacks, he began working at the Atlanta offices of the King and Spalding law firm in 1993, after Yale Law School, where he met his wife. 

In 1997, he took a job as a federal prosecutor in the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, and went back to King and Spalding in 2005. 

When he became FBI director, he was described in Atlanta media as a “Buckhead attorney.” 

Perhaps, at 55, Wray is planning for life in Atlanta beyond the FBI, where it is almost certain that his career will be cut short once Republicans take charge of his employment. 

An email to FBI public relations Sunday afternoon was not returned before our deadline, so we are left to speculate. 

What we do know is that on Oct. 11, the FBI jet left its home airport at Manassas, Va., at 12:46 p.m. and landed at 2:10 p.m. at the Fulton County Executive Airport in Atlanta, 16 miles from his Buckhead home. It then flew to Dallas at ­4:17 p.m. 

Perhaps Wray had very fast business in Atlanta during the two hours on the ground, or perhaps he found another mode of transport back to FBI HQ in Washington, DC. 

On Friday, Oct. 7, the jet again flew to Atlanta, this time from Dulles Airport in DC, leaving at 4:21 p.m. and landing at 5:47 p.m., before turning around 52 minutes later at 6:39 p.m. and flying back to Manassas, landing at 7:43 p.m. 

On Friday, Sept. 2, it flew from DC to Atlanta at 4:18 p.m, arriving at 5:43. After a little over an hour on the ground, it flew back to ­Manassas at 6:52 p.m., landing at 8:11 p.m. 

The FBI’s plane has flown frequently to Atlanta where Wray’s wife Helen Howell Wray is from.
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

On Sunday, Aug. 14, it flew from Manassas to Atlanta at 12:11 p.m., arriving at 1:23 p.m. After two and a half hours on the ground, it flew back to Manassas at 3:42 p.m. 

On Thursday, Aug. 11, it flew from DC to Atlanta, leaving at 2:26 p.m., and landing at 3:43 p.m., spending just 43 minutes on the ground before flying back to Manassas at 4.26 p.m. 

On Thursday, June 30, it flew from Manassas to Atlanta at 7:13 p.m., arriving at 8:27 p.m., before leaving for an undisclosed location at 9:14 p.m., after just 47 minutes on the tarmac.

There were several curious flights logged that month, in which the jet is recorded taking off from DC or Manassas en route to Atlanta and then circles around for a few minutes before ­returning. 

On Sunday June 26, it took off from DC at 9:52 a.m., circled for 15 minutes and landed at 10:07 a.m. 

Two hours later it took off again from Manassas at 12:03 p.m., circled and returned at 12:21 p.m. 

On Monday, June 20 (the Juneteenth holiday), the jet took off from Manassas at 11:31 a.m. and made it all the way to Atlanta, landing at 12:40 p.m. It made the return journey at 2:46 p.m., arriving at 4:37 p.m. 

It made another aborted flight back to Atlanta a little more than an hour later, at 5:22 p.m,, returning after 17 minutes in the air to land at 5:49 p.m. 

On Thursday June 16, the jet took off from DC at 12:24 p.m., en route to Atlanta, then turned around and landed at 12:45 p.m, after flying for 21 minutes. 

Later that afternoon, the jet appeared to take off again from DC at 2:24 p.m. for an unknown destination before turning back and landing at 4:04 p.m. after 21 minutes in the air. 

Finally, at 5:37 p.m., it took off for Atlanta and flew all the way there, arriving at 6:57 p.m.

FBI agents have claimed that Wray’s use of the plane amounts to “embezzlement” of government property.
Andrew W. Sieber via Flickr

Whatever was the purpose of all those flights to Wray’s hometown, they have set tongues wagging among current FBI agents. They have shared with former agents their suspicions that Wray is treating the FBI jet like his own private plane, and allege it amounts to “embezzlement” of government property which is when someone “knowingly converts government property to one’s own use.” 

“The FBI acquired the Gulfstream for the express purpose of moving its own Counterterrorism Rapid Deployment teams to anywhere in the world to deal with an act of terrorism,” says one concerned former agent. 

“At the time of discussions centering on the potential purchase of the FBI’s own Gulfstream aircraft, the Bureau was acutely aware of its need and specific purpose, and the significance of never misusing the aircraft for any other travel, specifically to include the movement of FBI Executives unless directly related to terrorism investigations and incidents.” 

Spelled out in law 

The former agent says embezzlement under Title 18, U.S.C. 641 is distinct from other forms of theft in that “the physical taking of the property is often lawful . . . This can be as simple as using a government-issued vehicle or other device for personal use.” 

The statute was used “to great effect and impact, resulting in the indictment, guilty plea and firing of an FBI inspector, and two former FBI directors, one who resigned short of their term, and the other who was fired by President Bill Clinton.” 

However, Republican members of Congress say that the Government Accountability Office has permitted previous FBI directors to use government aircraft for personal use as long as they reimburse taxpayers at the commercial rate — which is why they have asked Wray for receipts.

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Donald Trump says there’s no formal declassification process

Former President Donald Trump in a Wednesday night interview again insisted he had declassified the records seized by the feds at Mar-a-Lago — and said there’s no definitive document declassification process for US heads of state.

Trump made the comments in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that aired shortly after an appeals court ruled the Justice Department can have access to the documents seized from the former president’s Florida estate as part of their criminal investigation into the matter.

The 45th president told Hannity the documents were declassified when he left the White House, but didn’t say how.

“There doesn’t have to be a process, there can be a process, but there doesn’t have to be,” Trump said to the conservative news host. “You’re the president, you make that decision.”

“If you’re the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying, ‘It’s declassified.’ Even by thinking about it,” Trump told Sean Hannity.

According to Trump, every document seized by the FBI was declassified by him before leaving office.
REUTERS

The ex-president has been under investigation by the Justice Department for taking classified records from the White House to Mar-a-Lago.

The trove of roughly 11,000 documents, dozens of which contained classified markings, were seized by the FBI in a raid at the Florida estate on Aug. 8.

“I declassified everything,” Trump told Hannity Wednesday night.

Trump’s lawyers, at a Tuesday hearing for the DOJ case, refused to confirm if the records were in fact declassified by the former president.

In a court filing ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, Trump’s lawyers signaled they didn’t want to answer questions about the declassification status — because it could be part of the former’s president’s defense if he is ever indicted.

While Trump said he declassified the documents, his legal team is keeping quit on the matter.
REUTERS

The FBI also said Trump failed to mention he had supposedly declassified the files and handled the documents “as if they were still classified,” according to court papers revealed earlier in the month.

It was only after the raid that the former president said he had declassified them.

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US Gunman Posted ‘Call to Arms’ on Truth Social After FBI Searched Donald Trump’s Home: Reports

An armed man who fled after attempting to breach an FBI office in Ohio appears to have posted a “call to arms” on Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform after federal agents searched the ex-president’s home, US media reported Friday.

An account bearing the name of 42-year-old suspect Ricky Shiffer, identified by Ohio authorities on Friday, featured multiple posts of violent anger including his failed plan to attack the FBI, according to screen shots of the profile, multiple US outlets reported.

“This is your call to arms,” an account bearing Shiffer’s name posted on Truth Social.

“I am proposing war,” the account posted, urging “patriots” to kill federal agents the day after Trump’s Florida residence was searched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation — a move that sparked outrage in right-wing circles.

Shortly before it was removed from the social media platform, the same account appeared on Thursday to confess to attempting to storm FBI offices in the midwestern state of Ohio.

The FBI said Thursday that a person armed with a weapon had tried to breach the entry to the bureau’s office in the city of Cincinnati.

According to local media, the man fired a nail gun and brandished an AR-15-style rifle before fleeing by car.

“Well, I thought I had a way through bullet proof glass, and I didn’t. If you don’t hear from me, it is true I tried attacking the FBI, and it’ll mean either I was taken off the internet, the FBI got me, or they sent the regular cops while,” read a post, which appears to end mid-sentence and was shared Thursday morning, according to reports.

The incident drew nationwide attention as it occurred only a few days after the FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion, although there was no immediate confirmation the events were linked.

The suspect in Ohio was killed in a standoff with police after a vehicle pursuit and exchange of gunfire, authorities said.

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OneCoin Ponzi Scheme Mastermind Ruja Ignatova Added to FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted List

Ruja Ignatova, the Bulgarian mastermind behind the infamous “One Coin” ponzi scheme, has been added to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) Ten Most Wanted list. Ignatova, who is also known as the self-appointed “crypto queen,” has been accused of scamming her victims out of $4 billion (roughly Rs. 31,580 crore) with her fraudulent scheme. After marketing her sham cryptocurrency worldwide, the Bulgaria-born German citizen disappeared with stolen money back in 2017. Her current whereabouts remain unknown with law enforcement agencies struggling to find any trace.

The FBI has put up a $100,000 (roughly Rs. 79 crore) reward for Ignatova, who disappeared in Greece in October 2017 around the time US authorities filed a sealed indictment and warrant for her arrest.

In 2014, Ignatova launched OneCoin, ostensibly aiming to replace Bitcoin as the world’s leading virtual money. Tapping a global network to market the coin to friends and family in exchange for their own payouts, she and her co-conspirators pulled in at least $3.4 billion (roughly Rs. 26,844 crore) and possibly over $4 billion (roughly Rs. 31,580 crore), according to court documents.

Officials said that OneCoin was not backed by any secured, independent blockchain-type technology as other cryptocurrencies are. Instead, they said, it was a classic ponzi scheme, in which early investors are encouraged to find others and then paid out by receipts from later investors.

The disappearance of one of the biggest crypto fraudsters in history is the subject of a new documentary (via Variety) fittingly called “Crypto Queen.” The producers behind the project, which is supported by the UK’s Channel 4 and other media companies, claim that it will contain unexpected revelations.

The crypto queen’s brother, Konstantin Ignatov, remains free on bail pending sentencing. He was arrested back in 2019 for his involvement in the scheme, but his sentencing was adjourned since he was cooperating with US authorities.

The news also arrives within weeks of Europol, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation adding Ignatova to its own most-wanted list of criminals.

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