Ukrainian Authorities Arrest 4 Programmers Operating Bogus Crypto Exchanges

Ukrainian authorities arrested four men who were tagged in six fraudulent virtual currency exchanges that eventually resulted in the financial losses of their victims. According to Cointelegraph, the men promoted the bogus exchanges through fake positive ratings and misleading online reviews.

Authorities seized computers, flash drives, smartphones, and other devices when they raided the homes of the suspects. The confiscated equipment will be evaluated by experts to estimate the damage that the fraudulent exchanges caused.

Police are now trying to encourage users who have been victimized by the scams to come forward and file a complaint, as well as to share any more details to shed light on the case. Authorities managed to track down at least six sites being operated by the suspects but believe that “the list of sites is not complete.”

The men involved are between 20 and 26 years of age, with the police saying that all four are accomplished programmers. Apparently, they developed their own Content Management System (CMS) that produces fabricated reviews of the exchanges they were running.

This coincides with the findings of security firm Carbon Black in a report detailing the extent of damage that illicit activities bring to the crypto industry. The firm said that while criminal organizations may be involved in such incidents, it’s likely that in many cases it’s talented programmers and engineers who are behind these incidents, which proves true in this case in the Ukraine.

Hacking endeavors are increasing at an alarming rate, with even the rarest method of attacks becoming more and more prevalent. According to Carbon Black’s report, some of the most favored entities that hackers have their eyes on are crypto exchanges, which account for 27 percent of the overall attacks this year.

Indeed, two South Korean crypto exchanges have been hit by hackers in this month alone, where a total of $72 million was reportedly stolen. Unfortunate as this is for the people and companies that have been victimized, some experts believe that hacking incidents will play a significant role in strengthening the overall security of the crypto industry in the future.