Latest news with #HuioneGroup
The Star
15-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
2 massive black market services blocked by Telegram, messaging app says
A keyboard is placed in front of a displayed Telegram logo in this illustration taken February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Two sprawling digital black markets operating on the communications platform Telegram have been removed, the service said on Thursday. Xinbi Guarantee and Huione Guarantee - Chinese-language markets known for serving cybercriminals and scammers - appeared to be inactive on Thursday. Telegram provided little further detail in a message to Reuters except to say that "criminal activities like scamming or money laundering are forbidden by Telegram's terms of service and are always removed whenever discovered." Blockchain research firm Elliptic said the two markets had collectively facilitated more than $35 billion in transactions since 2021, many multiples higher than other black markets such as the drug-focused Silk Road, which drew international notoriety for distributing drugs over the dark web. "This is a big blow for online fraudsters, who relied on these markets for stolen data, money laundering services and telecoms infrastructure," Elliptic said in a statement. In a brief English-language statement posted to its website, Huione Guarantee - which at one point rebranded as "Haowang Guarantee" - confirmed that it had been blocked by Telegram starting Tuesday and would "cease operations from now on." The firm did not immediately return an email seeking comment. Reuters could not immediately locate contact information for Xinbi. Huione Guarantee is a subsidiary of Cambodia-based Huione Group, which also owns Huione Pay and Huione Crypto, U.S. officials have alleged. Last year, Reuters revealed that Huione Pay had received cryptocurrency then worth more than $150,000 from a digital wallet used by North Korean hacking outfit Lazarus. The report was followed earlier this month by a U.S. move to bar the Huione Group from the U.S. financial system. In a statement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Huione Group was the "marketplace of choice for malicious cyber actors." The Huione Group did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. (Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Richard Chang)
CNA
15-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
2 massive black market services blocked by Telegram, messaging app says
WASHINGTON :Two sprawling digital black markets operating on the communications platform Telegram have been removed, the service said on Thursday. Xinbi Guarantee and Huione Guarantee - Chinese-language markets known for serving cybercriminals and scammers - appeared to be inactive on Thursday. Telegram provided little further detail in a message to Reuters except to say that "criminal activities like scamming or money laundering are forbidden by Telegram's terms of service and are always removed whenever discovered." Blockchain research firm Elliptic said the two markets had collectively facilitated more than $35 billion in transactions since 2021, many multiples higher than other black markets such as the drug-focused Silk Road, which drew international notoriety for distributing drugs over the dark web. "This is a big blow for online fraudsters, who relied on these markets for stolen data, money laundering services and telecoms infrastructure," Elliptic said in a statement. In a brief English-language statement posted to its website, Huione Guarantee - which at one point rebranded as "Haowang Guarantee" - confirmed that it had been blocked by Telegram starting Tuesday and would "cease operations from now on." The firm did not immediately return an email seeking comment. Reuters could not immediately locate contact information for Xinbi. Huione Guarantee is a subsidiary of Cambodia-based Huione Group, which also owns Huione Pay and Huione Crypto, U.S. officials have alleged. Last year, Reuters revealed that Huione Pay had received cryptocurrency then worth more than $150,000 from a digital wallet used by North Korean hacking outfit Lazarus. The report was followed earlier this month by a U.S. move to bar the Huione Group from the U.S. financial system. In a statement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Huione Group was the "marketplace of choice for malicious cyber actors."
Reuters
15-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
2 massive black market services blocked by Telegram, messaging app says
WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) - Two sprawling digital black markets operating on the communications platform Telegram have been removed, the service said on Thursday. Xinbi Guarantee and Huione Guarantee - Chinese-language markets known for serving cybercriminals and scammers - appeared to be inactive on Thursday. Telegram provided little further detail in a message to Reuters except to say that "criminal activities like scamming or money laundering are forbidden by Telegram's terms of service and are always removed whenever discovered." Blockchain research firm Elliptic said the two markets had collectively facilitated more than $35 billion in transactions since 2021, many multiples higher than other black markets such as the drug-focused Silk Road, which drew international notoriety for distributing drugs over the dark web. "This is a big blow for online fraudsters, who relied on these markets for stolen data, money laundering services and telecoms infrastructure," Elliptic said in a statement. In a brief English-language statement posted to its website, Huione Guarantee - which at one point rebranded as "Haowang Guarantee" - confirmed that it had been blocked by Telegram starting Tuesday and would "cease operations from now on." The firm did not immediately return an email seeking comment. Reuters could not immediately locate contact information for Xinbi. Huione Guarantee is a subsidiary of Cambodia-based Huione Group, which also owns Huione Pay and Huione Crypto, U.S. officials have alleged. Last year, Reuters revealed that Huione Pay had received cryptocurrency then worth more than $150,000 from a digital wallet used by North Korean hacking outfit Lazarus. The report was followed earlier this month by a U.S. move to bar the Huione Group from the U.S. financial system. In a statement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Huione Group was the "marketplace of choice for malicious cyber actors." The Huione Group did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
2 massive black market services blocked by Telegram, messaging app says
By Raphael Satter WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Two sprawling digital black markets operating on the communications platform Telegram have been removed, the service said on Thursday. Xinbi Guarantee and Huione Guarantee - Chinese-language markets known for serving cybercriminals and scammers - appeared to be inactive on Thursday. Telegram provided little further detail in a message to Reuters except to say that "criminal activities like scamming or money laundering are forbidden by Telegram's terms of service and are always removed whenever discovered." Blockchain research firm Elliptic said the two markets had collectively facilitated more than $35 billion in transactions since 2021, many multiples higher than other black markets such as the drug-focused Silk Road, which drew international notoriety for distributing drugs over the dark web. "This is a big blow for online fraudsters, who relied on these markets for stolen data, money laundering services and telecoms infrastructure," Elliptic said in a statement. In a brief English-language statement posted to its website, Huione Guarantee - which at one point rebranded as "Haowang Guarantee" - confirmed that it had been blocked by Telegram starting Tuesday and would "cease operations from now on." The firm did not immediately return an email seeking comment. Reuters could not immediately locate contact information for Xinbi. Huione Guarantee is a subsidiary of Cambodia-based Huione Group, which also owns Huione Pay and Huione Crypto, U.S. officials have alleged. Last year, Reuters revealed that Huione Pay had received cryptocurrency then worth more than $150,000 from a digital wallet used by North Korean hacking outfit Lazarus. The report was followed earlier this month by a U.S. move to bar the Huione Group from the U.S. financial system. In a statement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Huione Group was the "marketplace of choice for malicious cyber actors." The Huione Group did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Sign in to access your portfolio
The Star
02-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
US moves to ban Cambodia's financial firm Huione over alleged money laundering
PHNOM PENH (Reuters): The US Treasury plans to ban Cambodian financial firm Huione Group from the US financial system, deeming it of "primary money laundering concern" over its alleged role in laundering illicit funds from cyber heists and online scams. The Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said on Thursday that it had proposed severing Huione's access to the US financial system by outlawing US firms from opening or maintaining correspondent banking accounts for or on behalf of Huione. The proposal now enters a 30-day consultation period. Phnom Penh-based Huione Group is the "marketplace of choice for malicious cyber actors" such as North Korea and criminal syndicates who have stolen billions of dollars from Americans, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. Huione Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent on Friday on the FinCEN proposal. FinCEN said that Huione Group laundered at least $4 billion worth of illicit funds between August 2021 and January 2025, including at least $37 million in crypto from cyber heists by North Korea and $36 million of crypto from so-called "pig butchering" scams, where individuals contacted online are defrauded. FinCEN's proposal cited a Reuters story published last year that found that Huione Pay, a unit of Huione Group, received crypto worth over $150,000 between June 2023 and February 2024 from a digital wallet used by North Korean hacking outfit Lazarus. Huione Pay told Reuters in response to its 2024 story that it had not known it "received funds indirectly" from hacks by Lazarus, adding that the digital wallet that sent the funds was not under its management. Crypto transfers allow North Korea to circumvent international sanctions, the United Nations has previously said, offering a route to buying banned goods and services. North Korea's mission to the United Nations in Geneva did not pick up calls from Reuters. The mission previously told Reuters that reporting on Lazarus was "all speculation and misinformation." (Reporting by Tom Wilson in London; Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and Freya Whitworth) - Reuters
