- A criminal gang by the name of, “Hackers from the East” stole crypto funds from the retirees.
- The criminal gang was operating in Maturin.
- They had also allegedly tricked the government into paying out pensions.
The Crypto Heist
A criminal gang who has allegedly executed a digital robbery stealing cryptocurrencies from pensioners is finally arrested by the Venezuelan police. According to the Instagram post of Douglas Rico, the criminal gang was operating in Maturin. Douglas Rico is the Director of the Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigation Service Corps, or CICPC. He also said that the members were arrested. The team consisted of three criminals: A man aged 30, another man aged 30, and a woman in her mid-30s.
The name of the criminal gang, according to Venezuelan police, is “Hackers from the East.” This team’s target was retirees with their retirement fund in crypto assets. Patria is a government-funded platform by which Venezuelans transact cryptocurrencies among themselves. The state also has an ecosystem where they gift crypto assets, such as petro(PTR), to the pensioners.
How Did That Happen?
Douglas said that the judiciary, from now on, will handle the case. The Venezuelan police have also seized their cellphones, four of them to be precise, and a computer. The criminal gang, according to the chief first collected information like the login details of the victims. They had also allegedly tricked the government into paying out pensions. Yes, they have made fake Patria accounts with real identities. The only difference is that those people were dead.
The Venezuelan police also seem to have said that the criminal gang used fake documents to transfer the cryptocurrencies into their ‘fake wallets.’ After possessing those crypto coins, the criminal gang transacted the crypto for fiat bolivars. The transfer was made in their accounts. CICPC as well SUNACRIP, the crypto regulators of the nation, created awareness in people regarding this kind of crypto scam. The Venezuelan police have said that these individuals will offer to take care of the entire process. What they intend is to gain access to your information and assets.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/07/12/crypto-criminal-gang-arrested-by-the-venezuelan-police/