Russian Bitcoin thieves get sentenced after stealing data from cryptocurrency forum
Two men got suspended prison sentences of 2 years and 6 months after stealing cryptocurrency worth more than RUB 800,000 via an online forum.
Russian authorities continue to prosecute cryptocurrency fraud, with the latest example of such actions coming from the town of Nyagan. The Russian police today announced that two men, born in 1993, have been charged with fraud and sentenced over stealing BTC-e codes from online forum users.
Each of the men got a suspended prison sentence of 2 years and 6 months, the police said in its announcement.
During the course of the investigation, the police found that the criminals obtained access to the database of a cryptocurrency online forum and illegally tapped into the information of the users of the forum. Then the duo created a topic for exchanging BTC-e codes for Russian rubles. In addition, the criminals used the names and profiles of the users whose data they stole to publish positive comments and reviews in the topic they created on the forum.
As a result of the fraud, the criminals obtained BTC-e codes worth (at that time) RUB 821,100. They misappropriated the funds and spent them as they saw fit.
The Russian police have been busy investigating cases involving cryptocurrencies lately. Thus, in March, a 66-year old woman from Russia’s city of Novosibirsk was charged with fraud. The probe has shown that she presented herself as a representative of an international company and organized a cryptocurrency seminar in the town of Biysk. The aim of the event was to “teach the public how to benefit from cryptocurrencies”. Every participant in the seminar had to give the fraudster RUB 31,000 in order to have the unique opportunity to generate returns from cryptocurrencies. After getting the cash of several victims, the 66-year old scam mastermind spend the money as she wished.
Virtual currencies are not regulated in Russia, making them very attractive for scammers. The Central Bank of Russia has warned several times about the risks associated with investments in Bitcoin and its likes, as well as about the risks associated with initial coin offerings (ICOs).
