14 DAY TRIAL // E-currency is often preferred by cybercriminals because it allows them to carry out their illegal activities without being easy to track down. However, now that Liberty Reserve, one of their favorite digital currencies, has been shut down by US authorities, they need to find an alternative.
Will that be difficult? According to experts, it will not.
RSA’s Idan Aharoni highlights the fact that this is not the first time when cybercriminals are forced to move to another e-currency.
Back in 2007, when e-gold – which is considered the original e-currency adopted by fraudsters – was shut down, they almost immediately started migrating to Moscow-based WebMoney.
After seeing that its services were used for misdeeds, WebMoney implemented some measures to keep fraudsters out. Despite the fact that some crooks were still able to use WebMoney, it was not easy to rely on the service without a real identity.
That’s when crooks discovered Liberty Reserve, a system which US authorities said facilitated criminal activities.
Now that Liberty Reserve is out of the picture, there are three main possibilities. Fraudsters will either “re-discover” WebMoney, they will move to one of the many existing digital currencies, or they’ll simply migrate to Bitcoin, which is named by Aharoni as being a “relatively mature option.”
“If that ends up being the case and Bitcoin does eventually get adopted (and there is evidence that it’s already happening), its legitimate users may become even bigger targets for fraudsters,” the expert noted.
As far as WebMoney currently stands, Brian Krebs has learned that at least two months ago, the Moscow-based company stopped accepting new signups from users in the United States.
“The services and products described on wmtransfer.com and webmoney.ru and offered by WM Transfer Ltd. are not being offered within the United States and not being offered to U.S residents or citizens, as defined under applicable law,” reads a message on the site.
“WM Transfer ltd. and its products and services offered on the site wmtransfer.com, webmoney.ru are NOT registered or regulated by any U.S. including FINRA, SEC, FSC, NFA, FinCEN, CFTC or ASIC.”