There has been a lot of talk about Bitcoin and deep web marketplaces as of late, which has lead to the creation of The State Police Suspicious Activity Review team in New York. This team was formally recognized for tracing bank deposits back to the deep web, even though funds was converted to Bitcoin in the process.
NY State Police Tracks Bitcoin On Deep Web
It is the first time a physical award is issued for busting criminals on the deep web. The New York State Police Suspicious Activity Review Team, together with the local Financial Crimes Unit, both received this award during an event at the US Department of the Treasury last week.
According to the information we have received, the Suspicious Activity Review Team noticed one person make over 20 bank deposits in small amounts. While this is not particularly suspicious in its own right, the total amount of funds added up to US$170,000. Which raised some red flags with the State Police.
What is even more intriguing is how several deposits were made to different bank accounts, and all of them were used to purchase Bitcoin. Once the transaction was complete, the bank accounts would be closed. Additionally, the same person turned that US$170,000 into US$250,000 through Bitcoin trading, although those numbers have not been officially confirmed yet.
Thanks to the help of several undisclosed Bitcoin companies – most likely exchange platforms – the Suspicious Activity Review Team was able to identify the destination for these Bitcoin amounts in the form of a deep web marketplace. An undisclosed amount of narcotics was seized during the arrest of this individual, whose name has not been officially disclosed.
This arrest comes on the heels of finding out Homeland Security is actively monitoring the Bitcoin blockchain for suspicious activity. Now that Bitcoin companies are helping law enforcement in tracing these transactions, using cryptocurrency for illegal purposes is becoming less and less appealing.
Source: Deep Dot Web
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