The Calgary Police Service (CPS) cybercrime team has released photos of four men who are suspects in an ongoing Bitcoin ATM fraud case.
It is believed $195,000 has been stolen as a result of the fraudulent Bitcoin ATM transactions.
Back in October 2018, the CPS cybercrime team received information about multiple fraudulent transactions that had occurred across Canada.
It is alleged that between September 16th and September 26th 2018, 112 fraudulent transactions had been made on Bitcoin ATMs in seven Canadian cities.
51 of the transactions were made in Calgary, with an additional 27 made in Montreal, 17 in Toronto, 13 in Winnipeg, two in Sherwood Park, one in Ottawa, and one in Hamilton.
After receiving the information, the CPS cybercrime team began a national investigation with assistance from agencies across the country, including the Toronto Police Service, Hamilton Police Service, Winnipeg Police Service, and Halton Regional Police Service.
The CPS believes that the suspects were committing ‘double-spend’ attacks.
A double-spend attack is when a hacker creates a duplicate of a given token and sends it to another party. In doing so, they retain the original token, allowing them to spend it without losing anything.
The CPS also believes that a suspect used a Bitcoin ATM to successfully withdraw money before remotely cancelling the transaction prior to the Bitcoin ATM provider processing the withdrawal.
Reportedly, investigators believe all 112 transactions were committed by a group of individuals located across the country who are suspected of colluding together.
Images of the suspected individuals have been uploaded to the City of Calgary Newsroom as the CPS continue to seek aid from the public in finding them.
Anybody with information about the identity of the suspects has been asked to contact the Calgary Police Service non-emergency line at 403-266-1234 – regardless of the jurisdiction they live in.
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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. We do not give advice on financial products.