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DOJ seizes $15B in Bitcoin from 'pig butchering' scam based in Cambodia

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Re: DOJ seizes $15B in Bitcoin from 'pig butchering' scam based in Cambodia

#201

Post by powerapple »

alephnerd wrote: post #35
bobthepanda wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly enough, China is thought to have leaned on the scales in Myanmar’s civil conflict due to pig-butchering there. (Not only were they scamming Chinese, they were also human trafficking them to operate the scams.)

China only began executing those pig-butcherers when the EAO that was providing protection to Chinese pig-butchering gangs in that region of Myanmar (Kachin Independence Army) re-flipped towards India recently [0] and had begun to ignore China [1] and rerouting rare earths and other goods to India [2] Meanwhile, China never cracked down against similar scams in Cambodia. Most notably, Prince Group remains unsanctione…

China does not have a way to deal with crime in Cambodia. It does not have anti-terrorism law to operate in other countries, also it does not want to upset Cambodia or Myanmar government when not necessary. These Chinese operates in Cambodia are mostly on the wanted list anyway, they don't plan to go back to China. In fact, a person leaving China to Cambodia and Myanmar will be checked and make sure their trip is innocent. Personally I hate these scammers, they have ruined so many people's lives. It seems that it will never go away. Too much money involved. I wish we can launch drone attacks on these places.

Re: DOJ seizes $15B in Bitcoin from 'pig butchering' scam based in Cambodia

#203

Post by reactordev »

itopaloglu83 wrote: post #171
kevinak wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn't appear to be how they seized the funds though, the criminal hasn't been caught so they must have hacked his devices to gain access to the private keys. No $5 wrench involved.

It’s probably a computer hack of some sort that led to accessing the wallet password etc. I bet somebody wrote down their password, too scared of what would happen to them if they were to forget it.

Nah, you know he had his wallet backed up to his My Documents folder as json…

Re: DOJ seizes $15B in Bitcoin from 'pig butchering' scam based in Cambodia

#204

Post by jacknews »

decimalenough wrote: post #67
jacknews wrote: post #3

And this isn't the only one. The ruling family in Cambodia is a big part of it, via their ownership in HuiOne (now renamed), which is essentially the clearing house for the 'industry'. In fact the Thai-Cambodia border conflict is due to this industry, and a breakdown in the relationship between Thai and Cambodian leaders over it, with the wiley cambodian leader yet again provoking the sensitive border issue for polit…

No, it was a "Russia invading Ukraine" sized miscalculation. The "wily" Cambodian leader's military got their asses handed to them by the Thai army, and Cambodia is suffering a lot more from the still ongoing border closure than Thailand is. Remittances, tourism, trade, you name it, it's all in the doldrums. (Good time to visit Angkor Wat if you can swing it, though.)

Militarily you are right, but remember war is politics by other means.

Thailand's Thaksin is now in jail and his daughter, basically his avatar, has been removed from government. Mission accomplished.

And to get a sense of how powerful this scam industry is in the country, the latest news is of a young Korean murdered after being kidnapped by a scam gang. Korea has responded forcefully, calling out the danger, yet the Cambodian press is now full of accusations that Korea is defaming Cambodia, that they are just as guilty of human-trafficking Cambodian brides, that some Koreans who were 'rescued' from a scam center don't actually want to go home, that the international press are unfairly treating Cambodia ... you know the story by now.

Re: DOJ seizes $15B in Bitcoin from 'pig butchering' scam based in Cambodia

#205

Post by yellow_lead »

ozgrakkurt wrote: post #43
yellow_lead wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may not be a hack, but a warrant like 'Hey Google, give us access to this guy's Gmail.'

You can’t get a warrant for a bitcoin wallet right?

The article mentions seed phrases being saved by the owner. What if he saved them online?

Re: DOJ seizes $15B in Bitcoin from 'pig butchering' scam based in Cambodia

#206

Post by nomilk »

Seems organised crime is taking advantage of less-policed (or lawless) regions in Cambodia and Burma.

The spectre of a similar scam has resulted in lower Chinese tourism to Thailand. Basically Chinese (among other nationalities) tourists were led from the airport by fake immigration staff, put into cars and driven to Burma and forced to work 18 hour days in scam call centers.

A chilling but extremely worthwhile read.

https://www.reuters.com/graphics/SOUTHEASTASIA-SCAMS/mypmxwd...

Re: DOJ seizes $15B in Bitcoin from 'pig butchering' scam based in Cambodia

#207

Post by forgotoldacc »

weird-eye-issue wrote: post #176
Reason077 wrote: post #62

Wow. $15 billion is an astronomical, nearly unfathomable amount of money in Cambodia. This must have been a huge operation. It's almost 1/3 of the country's entire GDP! Well done DOJ. Hopefully the victims get their money back.

They operate in places like Cambodia but it's the Chinese There's areas in Laos and Cambodia they control where it literally operates under a different set of laws. One of the areas, I think in Laos, Americans aren't even allowed to enter

The facilities aren't even remotely hidden so it's fair to blame Cambodia for allowing it. They have towns built up around them with restaurants and shops and normal economic functions to support the people running these slave towers. A good chunk of the money is flowing back into China, but there's definitely a good bit that seeps out into the Cambodian economy. Hence why Cambodia's government is more than happy to let it operate.

In the case of Myanmar, I think their biggest problem is the country has been in a war for decades with loads of various factions and it's too chaotic for any government to attempt to get anything under control.

Re: DOJ seizes $15B in Bitcoin from 'pig butchering' scam based in Cambodia

#208

Post by JKCalhoun »

padjo wrote: post #73
shkkmo wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The amount of bitcoin siezed here is about 30% of the Cambodia GDP...

Presumably they didn’t accumulate it all in one year?

Still, if it was accumulated over three years it seems significant.

Re: DOJ seizes $15B in Bitcoin from 'pig butchering' scam based in Cambodia

#209

Post by jacknews »

bapak wrote: post #168
Reason077 wrote: post #62

Wow. $15 billion is an astronomical, nearly unfathomable amount of money in Cambodia. This must have been a huge operation. It's almost 1/3 of the country's entire GDP! Well done DOJ. Hopefully the victims get their money back.

Does not apply. Cambodia is just a proxy, a land where the Chinese gangs act with impunity. Earned with slave work, money is laundered in casinos and no Cambodian is seeing a cent of it. Might as well say "nearly unfathomable amount of money in Congo" because that's just how disconnected the money is to the country.

No, some Cambodians are seeing a very sizeable benefit, probably the standard 20% that the leading family cream off of any major investment in the country.

And BTW it is not just the Chinese, there are innumerable other operators, including a whole bunch of smaller 'startups'.

They operate because Cambodia openly accepts it, and takes a cut, not because they are somehow so clever as to disguise the real business being conducted in closed-up apartment blocks.

Re: DOJ seizes $15B in Bitcoin from 'pig butchering' scam based in Cambodia

#210

Post by AndrewStephens »

jimbohn wrote: post #180
vkou wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, hold on, I thought the promise of crypto was that: 1. The feds can't take your money. 2. Once your money's gone, it's gone. If criminals can't count on #1 holding true, and their victims can't count on #2 holding true, what is even the point of it?

The new promise of crypto is helping organized crime or sanctioned individuals/countries with payments, and it's delivering!

> The new promise of crypto is helping organized crime or sanctioned individuals/countries with payments, and it's delivering!

It's not even new - Bitcoin right from the start was explicitly created to replace a centralized system used by criminals to evade currency controls. Bitcoin's creator(s?) saw that the various governments were eventually able to shut that down and set up Bitcoin as a decentralized system to avoid that problem.

It's not a flaw in crypto that criminals flock to it - it is built into the very design. This story shows that it is not perfect but to criminals it is the best that they have.

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