Six Indian nationals, including Raju Patel, Brijeshkumar Patel, Hirenkumar Patel, Naineshkumar Patel, Nileshkumar Patel, and Shaileshkumar Goyani, have been charged with operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business converting cryptocurrency to cash for clients seeking anonymity. Five of the six suspects were arrested on October 17th. The illegal operation was uncovered after the FBI arrested an individual who had been mailing packages of cash on behalf of the co-conspirator from a post office in Westchester County, New York. The FBI learned that the bundles of money were delivered by the six suspects on behalf of the unnamed co-conspirator through 80 controlled cash pickups that a confidential source agreed to participate in. The business violates state and federal laws by failing to register with FinCEN, according to FBI Special Agent Lawrence Lonergan.

According to court documents filed in the Southern District of New York, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has charged six individuals with operating an illegal remittance business worth $30 million using cryptocurrency. The documents show that these six individuals, Shaileshkumar Goyani, Brijeshkumar Patel, Hirenkumar Patel, Naineshkumar Patel, Nileshkumar Patel, and Raju Patel, did not have the proper licenses for transferring funds in New York. Details revealed in unsealed FBI documents seeking their arrest show that they conducted illegal business by exchanging Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies for cash using the dark web between July 2021 and September 2023.

The FBI has issued a warning about cybercriminals posing as NFT developers and stealing cryptocurrencies and digital assets from unsuspecting investors. These scammers create fake social media accounts and promote "exclusive" NFT releases through misleading advertising campaigns that create a sense of urgency and FOMO among users. They then direct users to phishing links that lead to spoofed websites where they steal funds, digital assets, or NFTs from users' wallets. The FBI advises crypto users to be extra cautious when interacting with websites and social media accounts and to report any suspicious activities immediately.

The FBI has issued a warning about criminals who are taking over social media accounts and pretending to be legitimate individuals in the non-fungible token and cryptocurrency space. They have also expressed concerns about fake websites that deceive victims into thinking they are using legitimate platforms in order to steal their NFTs and cryptocurrencies.

The FBI has issued a warning about a new romance scam known as "pig butchering," which is among the fastest-growing scams in the U.S. Scammers lure people into fake crypto investments while promising romantic and long-term companionship.

Jesse Powell, the former CEO of Kraken, had his home searched by the FBI in March as part of an investigation into allegations that he hacked and cyber-stalked a nonprofit arts group. The investigation has been ongoing since at least last fall. The nonprofit claimed that Powell interfered with its computer accounts, including blocking access to emails and other messages.

June 17 (Cointime) - The US government is facing a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit Institute for Justice for abruptly seizing over $100 million from safety deposit boxes in California without providing any explanation. The lawsuit seeks to halt forfeiture proceedings for a group of citizens, including a Los Angeles-based couple who had $40,200 of their life savings seized by the FBI. The couple claims that the agency took their money and the contents of hundreds of other people's safety deposit boxes without providing any evidence of illegal activity. The FBI's operation seized more than $100 million in cash, gold, jewelry, and other valuables from hundreds of people at a financial storage company in Beverly Hills, but the government refuses to specify what the individuals did wrong.

According to the FBI's 2022 Elder Fraud Report, there has been an 84% increase in fraud against elderly victims compared to the previous year. The most common scams are tech and customer support frauds, followed by investment fraud and cryptocurrency scams. Ohio is ranked sixth in the US for senior scams, with over 3,000 victims reporting losses to the FBI. To protect oneself, it is important to be aware of how scammers operate, avoid sending personal information or money to anyone, and keep anti-virus and malware protection up to date. For more information on scams, individuals can contact their county senior services unit or attend monthly talks hosted by Elder Scam Prevention Outreach Specialist, Dave Long. The National Elder Fraud Hotline is also available for victims of financial fraud aged 60 or older.

The FBI has expressed concern about the increase in labor trafficking cases associated with cryptocurrency scams. Criminals are using fraudulent job advertisements to lure victims into scam compounds in Southeast Asia where they are coerced into participating in fraudulent cryptocurrency investment operations.

The FBI has been found to have misused Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) more than 278,000 times between 2020 and early 2021. The law is supposed to allow warrantless snooping on foreign individuals outside America but can sweep up communications with US persons. The Feds were found to have abused the spy law in a "persistent and widespread" manner, according to an unclassified court opinion that detailed hundreds of thousands of violations. Although the law is not supposed to be used for surveilling American citizens, it has historically been used for this purpose without obtaining a warrant.