Elliptic’s report exposes how the Huione Guarantee market enables big money laundering and cyber scams through Tether (USDT) transactions.
Huione Guarantee, an online marketplace operated by the Cambodian conglomerate Huione Group, has been accused of facilitating online fraud in Southeast Asia.
According to the most recent Elliptic Research report, the platform conducted transactions that exceeded $11 billion, with a significant portion associated with cyber fraud and money laundering efforts.
In an interview with Cointelegraph, Dr. Tom Robinson, the co-founder and chief scientist at Elliptic, she explained that the team could “quantify” the cryptocurrency transactions due to the blockchain’s transparency.
“This aspect, of course, also means that these crypto transactions can be tracked and blocked in a way that is not possible with other payments.”
Scam operations and services provided
The marketplace operated by Huione Guarantee is primarily in Chinese and comprises thousands of instant messaging app channels, each administered by a distinct merchant.
These merchants provide various services essential for the operation of cyber scams, such as selling personal data, money laundering, and developing software and websites for scams.
The platform also provides tools and equipment to imprison and torment workers in scam compounds.
Although the platform employs payment methods such as bank transfers and payment applications, the marketplace primarily utilizes Tether USDT, which is significantly more straightforward to monitor than conventional fiat flows.
Elliptic’s questioning
The designation of hundreds of crypto addresses associated with the platform and its merchants resulted from Elliptic’s most recent report, which investigated Huione Guarantee.
Dr. Robinson stated to Cointelegraph that blockchain analytics could be employed by businesses to prevent them or their consumers from engaging with services like Huione Guarantee.
“We have labeled several hundred addresses in our tools that are used by these entities, and our customers can screen transactions and wallets for links to them.”
This identification allows exchanges and other businesses to screen transactions and prevent the ongoing laundering of illicit funds.
“Law enforcement can […] trace these payments and pursue those responsible for these scams. Crypto is a weak point of those scams that make use of it, which can be used to help bring those responsible to justice.”
Era of AI crypto crimes is just beginning: Elliptic.
The team at Elliptic emphasized the growing prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI) in illicit activities, such as state-sponsored cyberattacks and deepfake schemes, in their 2024 report.
Fraudulent schemes that involve deepfake videos of prominent figures, such as former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Elon Musk, are reportedly on the upward trend.
The report disclosed discussions on dark web forums regarding using AI to circumvent authentication systems and reverse-engineer crypto wallet seed phrases.
