Hired Assassins have begun accepting cryptocurrencies as payment, according to the head of the Russian Investigative Committee’s Cyber and IT crimes department, Konstantin Kormada.
Speaking to Russian news agency, TASS, Kormada said, “We are investigating cases of professional perpetrators who are specialists in the IT sphere and feel confident in the cyber environment, who meticulously plan crimes and use the whole possible range of means to maintain their anonymity and be left unpunished, from VPN services to cyber securities. For instance, it was identified that a cryptocurrency was used as payment in contract killing cases.”
“For instance, it was identified that a cryptocurrency was used as payment in contract killing cases,” he added.
Kormada further discussed that it is difficult to determine the person who transfers the payment when using cryptocurrencies. When converting regular currency, the cryptocurrency is transferred between 15-20 e-wallets which belong to third parties, before they money ends up in the pocket of the person it was meant for. IT professionals using specialist equipment have been tasked to analyse this data.
Although there are some who believe that hiring hitmen using cryptocurrency has long been a scam. However, as cybercrimes continue to expand, and the growth and popularity of VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) could mean that cryptocurrencies could become the future of crime payment.
