Key Takeaways:
- Money Laundering and Cyber Scams: Elliptic’s report reveals the Huione Guarantee marketplace facilitated over $11 billion in illicit transactions, primarily through Tether (USDT).
- Illegal Activities and AI Use: The marketplace is linked to money laundering, personal data sales, scam tool development, and worker exploitation, with an increasing trend of AI use in crypto crimes.
- Blockchain Transparency: Elliptic’s analysis helps law enforcement track and block illicit transactions by identifying hundreds of crypto addresses associated with Huione Guarantee.
Elliptic’s report exposes how the Huione Guarantee marketplace, operated by the Cambodian conglomerate Huione Group, facilitated over $11 billion in money laundering and cyber scams, primarily using Tether (USDT) transactions.
The marketplace, mostly operating in Chinese, is linked to various illegal activities, including selling personal data, money laundering, and developing tools for scam operations and worker exploitation.
A new investigation from the Elliptic research team sheds light on online marketplace Huione Guarantee. The platform is widely used by scam operators in South East Asia, including those involved in #pigbutchering scams. Read the full analysis ➡️ https://t.co/p9tqquGhJ6
— Elliptic (@elliptic) July 10, 2024
Elliptic’s blockchain analysis identified hundreds of crypto addresses associated with Huione Guarantee, enabling exchanges and businesses to screen transactions and prevent illicit activities.
The transparency of blockchain technology aids law enforcement in tracking and blocking these transactions, providing a means to combat such scams.
Deepfake scam services. Victim data. Electrified shackles for human trafficking. Crypto tracing firm Elliptic found all were available for sale on an online marketplace linked to Cambodia’s ruling family. https://t.co/nCdIDMpDeS
— WIRED (@WIRED) July 10, 2024
The report also highlights the increasing use of AI in crypto-related crimes, including deepfake scams and discussions on using AI to reverse-engineer crypto wallet seed phrases on dark web forums.