Daily fraud update: 16th April

Currency exchange firm launches anti-fraud analytics tool

A leading currency exchange company has announced it will use a new tool designed to root out scam blockchain transactions.

Huobi Group has said that the new tool, which is called Star Atlas, was designed to keep a close eye on the blockchain to find and root out fraudulent transactions.

It is understood that the monitoring will take place in real time rather than retrospectively, and that it will have the capacity to alert staff members at the firm.

These staff members will then be able to follow up using sophisticated path monitoring techniques.

A wide range of features will be available as part of the new service.

These will include the capacity to analyse events for correlation, as well as tools for verifying the identity of actors on the blockchain.

The tool will also have the ability to flag up addresses being used for malicious purposes.

According to a statement from the company, the new tool is an opportunity to tackle “nefarious uses” of crypto.

“The launch of Star Atlas underscores Huobi’s efforts to expand its security measures beyond local requirements and contribute to the fight against nefarious uses of cryptocurrencies on a global scale”, it said.

A key part of the new system is believed to be tagging.

It is understood that this function will be what powers the library of allegedly fraudulent addresses that the system is intended to develop.

In a further statement, Ciara Sun – who is the vice president of Global Business at Huobi Group – described the new service.

“It’s estimated that only a small percentage of cryptocurrency transactions are illicit, but any incident—regardless of size—is a stain on the entire industry”, she said.

“As one of the most active crypto exchanges on the market, we see it as our responsibility to take a leading role in preventing the minority of bad actors from ruining it for the vast majority that follows the rules”, she added.

Scottish town suffers bitcoin extortion cases

Police in a town in Scotland have revealed that there have been two bitcoin extortion cases there in recent days.

According to Neil MacLeod, who is the communities officer in the town of Cumbernauld in between Glasgow and Edinburgh, two people in the town said they have received emails which threatened to expose information unless they transferred crypto.

“These emails threaten to expose the recipients via social media”, Macleod explained.

“However, they [are] being quite vague about what they will expose them for. The request is made that the recipient transfer £2000 via Bitcoin transfer.”

According to a report in the local press, neither of the alleged victims went ahead with any transfers of money.

It is understood that both individuals got in touch with police over the same weekend.

The police request that any other people who received such emails come forward to them with the information.

Chris Lee

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