$5.1B in Illicit Crypto Transactions Linked to UK Every Year, NCA Says – DL News

According to a report from the National Crime Agency, an estimated $5.1 billion in illegal crypto transactions are processed in the UK every year.

International controller networks are using a variety of methods to provide money laundering services to criminals, the report says. This links proceeds of crime generated in the UK to transnational cybercrime, affecting victims worldwide.

According to the NCA, cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used to launder non-digital criminal proceeds such as cash and are being obtained through increasing forms of cybercrime, including malware and ransomware.

Malware is malicious software that can take control of a victim’s device. Ransomware is a type of software that encrypts a victim’s files or data, making them inaccessible. The attacker then demands a ransom, usually in crypto, in exchange for the decryption key.

The NCA earlier this year disrupted LockBit, a major ransomware company, with international help, including the U.S. FBI. LockBit targeted more than 2,000 victims and collected more than $120 million in ransoms, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

The NCA seized control of LockBit’s primary management environment, allowing affiliated organizations to set up and execute attacks. The NCA also took over the group’s public dark web site, where they had been hosting data stolen from victims and threatening to publish it.

In a broader operation coordinated by Europol, two LockBit actors were arrested in Poland and Ukraine. More than 200 cryptocurrency accounts linked to the group were frozen.