Malaysians Demand Ransom of $1 Million USDT

• Half a dozen Malaysians have been charged with kidnapping a Chinese national for $1 million in USDT.
• According to the filed indictment, the Malaysian group kidnapped a Chinese resident on July 11, 2024, near a highway exit.
• According to a recent report from Elliptic, scammers are using AI to rob innocent investors in the crypto space.

The global popularity of cryptocurrencies has skyrocketed, leading to a surge in illicit activity in recent years aimed at gaining exposure to other digital assets. During the war in Ukraine, dozens of on-chain analytics firms reported that terrorists were actively using crypto, specifically USDT, to achieve their goals.

According to the latest update, authorities have arrested half a dozen Malaysian citizens for kidnapping a Chinese citizen for $1 million worth of cryptocurrency. The group of accused kidnappers includes a married couple and four others.

On July 11, 2024, a Malaysian group kidnapped a Chinese citizen and demanded 4.44 million Malaysian ringgit in cryptocurrency to remain untraceable.

Multinational fraudsters and scammers prefer to accept payments in digital assets so they can use crypto mixers and other tools to cover their tracks.

Judge Amir Effendy rejected the bail applications of the six suspects on August 15 after they pleaded not guilty to the kidnapping charges. He then set the next hearing for October 8.

Crypto Crimes in 2024

Elliptic’s recent report reveals that crypto scammers are using artificial intelligence (AI) to create convincing celebrity endorsements. By capitalizing on popular buzzwords like GPT, these scammers are ultimately misleading crypto investors.

The report stated: “AI has been the hype-generating target of a number of recent scam tokens. There are hundreds of tokens listed on various blockchains that have some variation of the term “GPT” in their name, including “GPT4 Token,” “CryptoGPT,” and “GPT Coin,” among others. While some may reflect well-intentioned ventures, a number have been promoted on amateur trading forums where scammers claim to have some form of official association with ChatGPT or another supposedly legitimate AI company..”

The January 2024 Casino Underground Banking Report reveals a disturbing trend in East and Southeast Asia. Transnational organized crime groups in the region are using casinos, junkets, and crypto extensively to further their illicit activities.

These entities have become critical components of the underground banking and money laundering infrastructure, allowing illicit activities to flourish.

Crypto Market Price Update

At the time of writing, the global crypto market cap is $2.07 trillion with an intraday decline of over 3.50%. CoinMarketCap’s fear and greed index is at 43, reflecting neutrality.

Bitcoin gained a lot of attention after COVID-19 as the world switched to advanced digital technologies. In the past few weeks, BTC dropped in the range of $54,000 – 63,000.