Analysts track cryptocurrency scammer who stole from 10K Dogecoin fans

An online scammer is targeting the popular cryptocurrency, Dogecoin . To date, more than 10,000 individuals have been hit by the operation, with overall losses amounting to some $24,000.

Russia-based cybersecurity firm Doctor Web fingered the perp in a recent blog , spotted by BleepingComputer. Analysts have been tracking the suspicious activity of a particular cryptocurrency criminal, who has been using a wide array of malware and other methods to gain illegal income.

Security researchers bestowed our scumbag friend a few nicknames: Investimer, Hyipblock, and Mmpower.

I really like Mmpower, so let’s go with that one.

Trojan horses in all the fake Dogecoin things

Mmpower is not your average cryptocurrency scammer. They have actually manufactured an extensive set of fake online Dogecoin resources laced with credential-stealing malware.

“The general scheme the cybercriminal uses to deceive Internet users is as follows: the potential victim is, by various means, lured to a fraudulent website that requires the user to download a certain client program to use it,” the analysts explain.

“However, instead of a client, the victim downloads a Trojan that installs other malware to the computer when the attacker signals it.”

Mainly, Mmpower uses Trojan horses to steal confidential data from Dogecoin fans, returning later to remove cryptocurrency and money from victim’s accounts.

The scam involves a fake cryptocurrency exchange that steals deposits, and a fake Dogecoin mining pool. There’s also a fake Dogecoin-mining browser extension, and one to earn Dogecoin when browsing the web.

There’s even a fake Ethereum lottery that promises to pay winnings in Dogecoin, but is built in such a way that only allows the owner to win any money.

It currently has around 6,000 registered users. Go figure.

Dr. Web notes Mmpower uses a “wide range of commercial Trojans that are currently prevalent in the underground market.”

But most of the fake services are being hosted on servers that are Cloudflare protected, which hide IP addresses, keeping Mmpower anonymous.

This means there is currently little chance of identifying the fraudster and reporting them to the authorities.

Still, here is a handy guide on staying safe from phishers and other internet fraudsters. It’s worth reading, considering world-renowned cybersecurity team Group-IB has just detailed how cryptocurrency thefts are only going to increase over the next year.

The full list of compromised Dogecoin-related services operated by Mmpower are found here .

ICOs withdrew $17M worth of Ethereum during latest market collapse

The most recent collapse of the cryptocurrency market has had an interesting effect on blockchain token developers.

In the past month, teams have withdrawn at least 170,000 ETH ($17.7 million) from their cryptocurrency coffers, marking the third biggest withdrawal period of this year.

In fact, over 100,000 ($10.4 million) ETH has been transferred from Initial Coin Offering (ICO) treasuries in the last week, reports blockchain research unit Diar.

January and September are the only months to see such increased access to “development funds” this year.

This comes at a time when trading volumes across the cryptocurrency markets have fallen significantly , with 60 percent of exchanges like Binance, OKEx, Huobi, and Kraken hosting less token trading volume than in January this year.

This is especially true of tokens launched in 2018. Diar reports that over 75 percent of the cryptocurrencies that were added to exchanges this year have seen volumes in “complete decline” since October.

Despite the drop in retail interest and resurgence in volatility, you could argue devs have played it cool . Diar analysts concluded teams have withdrawn just 22 percent of overall funding held in treasuries to date.

Before the liquidation periods began earlier this year, the total amount of cryptocurrency held in ICO treasuries exceeded 4,651,675 ETH ($1.7 billion at the time).

Sierra Leone is the first country to run a blockchain-powered election

In what is a first not only for Afrika but the world, the country used a blockchain solution to tally, and provide proof of, the recently held elections in the country. The blockchain solution used was developed by a Switzerland based voting technology company, Agora .

During the elections in Sierra Leone, Agora used their proprietary blockchain distributed ledger to keep track of the elections contested by 16 candidates.

“Sorry for being silent the last days. The team is engaged in Sierra Leone’s presidential elections, and we are in Freetown with our partners, the European Commission, helping our blockchain node operators (Red Cross, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, University of Fribourg) audit today’s election results. We are proud to announce that our results in the western district are 2 hours ahead of the National Election Commission and all NGOs, with 86% tallied. I’ll get back to you later tonight with more,” said Leonardo Gammar, CEO at Agora, in the company’s Telegram group as tallying of votes was underway on March 7th, 2018.

A blockchain based solution that uses a publicly visible ledger for keeping track of elections could complement, or even replace, electronic voting machines. Currently, opposition politicians in the Democratic Republic of Congo are opposed to the use of electronic voting machines as they feel these can be hacked and the results manipulated.

“First, people in Sierra Leone want to vote in peace and have hope. They are also very brave! There is no private transportation allowed so they had to take the buses to the polling centers which is quite a difficult task here. It has been humbling to see and take part in. I’d like to show my respect for our observers out here who has sometimes no choice but to walk for hours to take part in peaceful and transparent elections. I’ve learned that a country doesn’t need to have impressive infrastructures to start working towards democracy and technical improvements. I am grateful to Sierra Leone for showing the world how visionary they are and take the chance on us so we can continue to figure out how to build a custom blockchain for their governance needs. These challenges are where we find our strengths. If we can make it happen in SL we can make happen everywhere around the earth. Thank you Eran, see you soon!” concluded Gammar.

This post was originally published by iAfrikan . Check out their excellent coverage and follow them down here: