Thai[1] police have detained 27-year old actor Jiratpisit "Boom" Jaravijit in an alleged $24 million cryptocurrency scam[2], Bangkok Post reported[3] August 9.
Jiratpisit is reportedly one of the seven suspects in the alleged crime[4], including his older brother and sister. On July 26, the Criminal Court awarded a warrant for his arrest following a complaint from a Finnish man that he had fraudulently lured foreigners into investing 797 million baht (nearly $24 million) worth of cryptocurrencies. Jiratpisit has been detained on charges of money-laundering[5] activity, which he denies.
The alleged cybercrooks reportedly promised to purchase shares in companies that invested in the cryptocurrency[6] Dragon Coin. According to the Bangkok Post, investors did not receive dividends from their supposed investment or an invitation to a shareholders’ meeting. The Crime Suppression Division states that the criminals withdrew BTC from their e-wallets and then converted it to baht.
Earlier this week, South Korean[7] police raided[8] the office Shinil Group, whose alleged crypto scam promised investors the spoils of Russian[9] warship Dmitrii Donskoi, that sank 113 years ago. To encourage investors to purchase the company’s own cryptocurrency, Shinil allegedly promised[10] to reimburse them with the gold from the ship. The coin reportedly attracted 60 billion won ($53.7 million) in investments from around 100,000 investors since its launch this year. However, there is no clear evidence that the ship contained anything of value.
Recently, Tokyo-based security software manufacturer Trend Micro found[11] BTC automated teller machine (ATM) malware available for purchase online. Trend Micro cites an advertisement posted by an “apparently established and respected” user on
