Chinese citizen Jingliang Su faces nearly four years in prison for his role in a cryptocurrency fraud that relied on befriending Americans on social media and then gaining their trust to extort money. According to one agency, he laundered approximately $37 million from 174 U.S. victims through fraud hubs in Cambodia. statement The Justice Department released it Tuesday. In June, Su pleaded guilty to conspiring to operate an illegal money transfer business.
The verdict comes after most Chinese scammers stole records last year $17 billion from ordinary people. Scam center has become notorious In Southeast Asian countries such as Myanmar recent kidnappings Fraud centers in the region have been linked to these fraud centres.
“This case is emblematic of a broader trend we are observing: well-organized fraud syndicates in Southeast Asia are weaponizing technology and cryptocurrencies to defraud victims across borders at scale,” Jacqueline Burns Koven, director of cyber threat intelligence at Chainalysis, said in a report. wealth.
Sue and his criminal network used creative techniques and cryptocurrency to lure victims and launder money. Scammers will contact U.S. victims via social media, text messages or online dating platforms to gain people’s trust. They then create fake websites that look like real cryptocurrency exchanges to convince victims to send money.
These tactics, designed to exploit lonely or otherwise vulnerable people, are at the heart of what Chinese criminals call “pig killing.” The term describes gaining an individual’s trust over time in order to suddenly deceive them.
Scammers used Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, to move and launder money. Approximately $37 million in victim funds was transferred from the fraudsters’ U.S. bank accounts to accounts in the Bahamas. They then instructed the bank to convert the funds into the stablecoin Tether (USDT) and then transfer them to a Cambodian-controlled digital asset wallet.
Chinese scammers defrauding Americans is an issue that has been raised with U.S. lawmakers. Earlier this month, Burns Koven published a witness Before the Senate, titled “Made in China, Seniors Pay: Stopping Surge in International Scams.”
“Tackling this threat requires a holistic strategy that combines upstream prevention and victim redress, deep collaboration between the public and private sectors, and true international coordination among law enforcement agencies, regulators and industry partners,” Burns Koven said in a report. wealth.