THELOGICALINDIAN - According to a address by admired accountancy close PricewaterhouseCoopers PwC the individuals abaft the SamSam ransomware advance are affiliated to the arguable cryptocurrency barter WEX aforetime BTCe The Iranian hacker accumulation is believed to accept acclimated the belvedere to acquit up to 6 million
Two of the men articular by the US Department of Justice as actuality amenable for the SamSam ransomware are Haramarz Shahi Savandi and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri. PwC identifies both accepting links to WEX. The SamSam advance of which capacity were appear aftermost September is believed to accept amount a absolute of $30 million.
WEX Linked to “Cleanup” of Ransomware Funds
The PwC address states that abyss are more favouring abate cryptocurrency exchanges to acquit money application Bitcoin or added agenda currencies. It attributes this to acute acquiescence of “know your customer” and anti-money bed-making regulations at beyond trading venues. It goes on to advance that decentralised exchanges, such as those actuality launched by Binance and other firms, could be acclimated by launderers to balk apprehension activity forward.
One of the abate exchanges favoured seems to be WEX. Two of the Iranian nationals affiliated to the SamSam ransomware advance that hit over 200 institutional targets to the tune of over $30 actor are believed to accept been affiliated with the exchange. The PwC write:
“We articular this Iranian money bed-making operation as accepting links with bill barter WEX (previously accepted as BTC-e)… WEX is best conspicuously accepted for its declared captivation in the blackmail amateur tracked by PwC as Blue Athena, and actuality amenable for cashing out 95 percent of all ransomware payments fabricated back 2024.”
Payment for the absolution of files encrypted by ransomware attacks like SamSam and WannaCry is generally accepted in Bitcoin or addition cryptocurrency. This, according to the PwC address is because it is abundant safer to transact discretely with acknowledgment to its “inherent decentralised and bearding qualities.”
Although WEX absolutely denies actuality affiliated to BTC-e, the two allotment about identical layouts and the PwC address states that all the users accounts from BTC-e were transferred over to the WEX platform. BTC-e trading came to an brusque arrest in 2017 afterward the arrest of Alexander Vinnik, the site’s ambassador is doubtable of actuality complex in the bed-making of about $4 billion.
The PwC states that it expects to see added examples of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control about advertence agenda bill addresses to individuals as it did with the Iranian nationals in this case. This, it admits, may force the abyss to adapt approach in response.
In concluding, the PwC offered the admonition for those impacted by ransomware like SamSam to not pay the ransom. It states that acquittal alone encourages the advance back it proves its bread-and-butter validity.
Related Reading: Yes, Criminals Use Bitcoin: They Also Use Cars, Cash, Mobile Phones, and the Web…
