The U.S. Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Safety (DHS) have seized coronaprevention.org, alleging its proprietor tried to promote the area for bitcoin after posting about it in a “hacker’s discussion board.”
Introduced late Friday, the unidentified proprietor of the location tried to promote the area to an secret agent with the Division of Homeland Safety’s Prison Investigations unit, who stated they wished to make use of the location to promote pretend COVID-19 testing kits, a plan the proprietor reportedly stated was “genius.”
In accordance to a warrant connected to the press launch, the proprietor of coronaprevention.org, known as “Topic A,” listed the area on the market on a discussion board “identified to concentrate on content material associated to, and populated by customers concerned with, hacking and hijacking on-line accounts” a day after U.S. President Donald Trump declared a nationwide emergency as a result of virus.
The secret agent reached out, and Topic A allegedly stated they had been charging $500 payable in bitcoin for the area (based on the warrant, such domains are normally nearer to $20). The agent in the end despatched a partial fee to an undisclosed bitcoin handle.
The information comes on the heels of the DOJ’s announcement that it had “disrupted” a whole lot of domains that had been getting used to shill scams associated to COVID-19.
An inventory of the domains seized was not accessible, and it’s unclear whether or not Friday’s seizure was associated. Nonetheless, earlier this week a DOJ spokesperson advised CoinDesk, “The division is conscious of the reported enhance in COVID-19-related fraud involving numerous digital fee platforms and appreciates the proactive help of many within the cryptocurrency neighborhood to thwart these schemes.”
The spokesperson didn’t reply to a comply with up query about which entities it was working with.
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