In a picture of what might be a regular occurrence in the future, three men have been detained for allegedly hacking into online accounts and managing to get away with about 600 million yuan's($87 million) worth of cryptocurrency.
Officers on the scene cited the sophisticated software used by the hackers as integral in them keeping their identity. SCMP reports that the heist, reported in Shaanxi, was a first of its kind; the officers on the scene confessed that they haven't faced any kind of complaint like it. It was investigated upon receiving a complaint from a man living in the city that suspected his account had been broken into when 100 million yuan worth of Bitcoin and ethereum credits went missing.
Most of the information was taken from different local internet providers. It helped the police pinpoint their initial suspect, a Hunan province native named Zhou. The hackers, led by the man, were able to distribute the currencies among themselves and made multiple transactions to make covering their tracks easier. The suspects were said to have gained access to hacking programs and had studied how to do it ever since they were minors aged 12 and 13.
To be clear, the heist of Bitcoin has been going on for a long time. The Daily Beast cites the example of Mark Karpeles, who brought Mt. Gox to the fore. Mt. Gox was crucial for cryptocurrency's rise into the phenomenon it has become. However, all of it changed when, in 2014, Mt. Gox crashed and "half a billion dollar's worth" of the cryptocurrency went missing-or did it?
The problem with this is that the cryptocurrency hasn't been as regulated as it had been, allowing for the culprits behind the heist to escape with it. It's been the favorite financial source of both criminals and people with the wits to know when to buy or when to sell. With its volatility, trading it can be tricky too-traders could be instant winners or instant paupers in just a blink of an eye.
The case in Shaanxi is all but solved, even with the suspects in police custody. Two more suspects have since have been detained. A man named Cui from Beijing, and another with the surname Zhang, from Jilin. The suspects were caught through the same internet databases that were instrumental in catching the first suspect.
