CipherTrace Life Hack for criminal investigations: how to find out if cryptocurrency was involved in offenses
CipherTrace, a blockchain analytics company, has published recommendations and tips that can help law enforcement agencies determine whether cryptocurrency has been used for illegal activities.
Using crypto for crimes
In a report published by the analytical firm for the cryptocurrency and blockchain, have been presented advice that will help in future criminal investigations by identifying ways to use the cryptocurrency.
CipherTrace suggested that criminals may have increasingly used cryptocurrency, rather than cash, for their illegal activities, as the US Treasury Department reported that since 2013, agencies across the United States have reported a steady decline in the amount of cash seized.
The report said:
“The lack of seizure of funds for known operations that require a large amount of money should automatically indicate the potential use of cryptocurrency to hide and move funds.”
According to CipherTrace, there were several key points that could make it clear to law enforcement that in this case, the cryptocurrency was used to encourage criminal activity.
The Analytics company called on investigators to thoroughly examine confiscated phones and old computers for cryptocurrency-related applications. They also said that bookmarks and authenticator apps deserve a separate study. In addition, the report lists a number of popular cryptocurrency exchanges, wallet providers, and ATM location cards with crypts that can help law enforcement agencies in their investigations.
Experts said that old, disabled and seemingly non-functioning computers also contain private keys to cryptocurrency wallets.
Random documents can have crypto passwords
In addition, investigators do not pay attention to the “pocket garbage”, which in fact consisted of small pieces of seemingly random paper.
However, the Analytics company suggested that they deserve close attention, since the pocket trash sometimes contained the original recovery phrases for cryptocurrency wallets or may be receipts from bitcoin ATMs.
The report said:
“Pocket trash” or any other random documents should be evaluated for lists of seemingly random words: usually 12, but some wallets can support the original phrases up to 33 words, which, if used in the correct order, will help in restoring the crypto wallet.”
Sometimes recovery fragments are hidden in books, planners, notes, or even in plain sight, disguised as regular lists. A list of hardware wallet manufacturers and popular models was also provided in the report, and analysts warned that sometimes hardware wallets look like inconspicuous USB drives.”
The main thing is to stay alert
Block chain analysis tools such as CipherTrace Inspector can be used to easily check the source of funds and detect any connection to shadow markets or other criminal activity.
CipherTrace is a company engaged in the exploration and analysis of the block chain, which is proud of its struggle against crypto-crime. Founded in 2015, its mission is to end digital crime and protect financial institutions from money laundering and cryptocurrency – related threats. It is funded by the US Department of homeland security and supplies software products that allow forensic blockchain analysts to track various transactions.
Law enforcement agencies need these tools to verify that cryptocurrency exchanges comply with local anti-money laundering regulations, and to track fraudulent crypto transactions in the block chain.