The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in cooperation with the National Police of Ukraine have seized domains of nine virtual currency exchange services used by ransomware groups and other cybercriminals for money laundering.
The domains were seized on April 25, 2023, the FBI said in a press release. The disrupted services include 24xbtc.com, 100btc.pro, pridechange.com, 101crypta.com, uxbtc.com, trust-exchange.org, bitcoin24.exchange, paybtc.pro, and owl.gold. The websites provided support both in Russian and English.
“Domain names offered by organizations which were engaged in cryptocurrency conversions and provided assistance to cybercriminals were seized, and related servers were shut down. US based servers used in the scheme were taken offline by US authorities,” the FBI said.
“Many of these services are advertised on online forums dedicated to discussing criminal activity. By providing these services, the virtual currency exchanges knowingly support the criminal activities of their clients and become co-conspirators in criminal schemes,” the agency added.
The FBI said that the investigation is ongoing, without sharing further details on the operation.
