Police in the United Kingdom Seize $2.8 Million Worth Bitcoins from a Teen Who Runs a Scam Website
Police In The United Kingdom Seize A Teenager Who Runs A Scam Website
According to BBC News, the United Kingdom police seized a 17-year-old teenager from South Lincolnshire and confiscated Bitcoin worth about $3 million from him.
For legal reasons, the police are unable to identify the youngster.
According to Prosecutor Sam Skinner, the teen created a false website that looked nearly identical to the actual website of Love2shop, which distributes gift cards.
He then paid Google to market his scam website, which resulted in his bogus site showing above the legitimate site in search results.
The fake website tracked Love2shop customers into submitting their personal information.
According to the prosecutor:
“People were duped into clicking on his website thinking they were accessing the official site.”
After a week, the teen removed the site after Love2shop began investigating him in response to a customer complaint.
According to Lincoln Crown Court, he took £6,500 ($8,954) in vouchers and used the earnings to acquire bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies.
Police discovered 48 Bitcoins and a lesser amount of other cryptocurrencies when he was caught in August of last year.
According to statistics from Bitcoin.com Markets, this sum of BTC is worth about $3 million at the time of writing.
Skinner stated:
“At the time they were worth £200,000. They are now worth a little over £2 million.”
The Teenager Is Accused Of Money Laundering
During the inquiry, investigators discovered almost 12,000 credit card numbers stored on the teen’s computers, as well as the login information for 197 PayPal accounts.
The teenager agreed to allegations of money laundering and fraud totaling £6,539 through false representation between April 9 and 16, 2020.
A 12-month rehabilitation order was also issued to the adolescent. "If he were an adult, he'd go inside," the judge remarked.
Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight decided that he benefitted from his crimes to the tune of £2,141,720 and ordered that sum to be deducted from his assets.