A British judge has ordered the confiscation of $1.1 million worth of cryptocurrency from a hacker who used phishing attacks to steal personal data and sell it on the dark web.
As The Telegraph reported
on Aug. 23, judge Joanna Korner of Southwark Crown Court ruled that the
police could confiscate $1.1 million worth of digital currency from
Grant West.
In his cyber attacks, West allegedly
operated under the online pseudonym “Courvoisier” and used phishing
emails to steal customers’ personal data — including financial data, as
well as credit and debit cards details — before selling it on the dark
web with cryptocurrency.
78 million individual usernames
West
targeted companies including Sainsbury’s — the second largest retail
chain in the United Kingdom — general merchandise retailer Argos and Uber.
During the investigation, the police seized an SD card containing 78
million individual usernames and passwords, and the information of
63,000 credit and debit cards.
West was reportedly sentenced to
ten years for conspiracy to defraud and possession of criminal property
in May. At the time of West’s arrest, the value of the cryptocurrency
was around $1.96 million, but price volatility made it difficult for
authorities to determine the exact value of the confiscation, according
to prosecuting barrister Kevin Barry.
The seized digital currency is set to be sold and West’s victims will be compensated for damages.
In July, a gang of masked men raided a Bitcoin (BTC)
exchange in the English city of Birmingham, sparking a police
investigation. On that occasion, the group had reportedly attempted to
steal a Bitcoin automatic teller machine using a rope attached to their
car.
According to blockchain
security company CipherTrace, outright thefts, scams and other kinds of
misappropriation of funds from digital currency holders and trading
platforms resulted in around $4.3 billion in losses throughout 2019.
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