Bitcoin or Tether – so-called cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used for fraud. The Kassel public prosecutor’s office alone is currently investigating 150 cases.
The damages are running into the millions.
Criminals gain trust
The crypto criminals sometimes act like medium-sized companies, sometimes operating their own call centers. They often lure their victims with the promise of an extremely profitable digital investment. A relationship of trust is built up over a long period of time beforehand.
Victims sometimes take out loans for alleged crypto investments
“The victims come from the middle of society,” says Dr. Stephan Schwirzer, head of the economic department at the Kassel public prosecutor’s office. The damages are therefore not particularly high compared to other economic crimes – but they threaten the victims’ livelihoods. “Sometimes, and this is particularly perfidious, the victims are even tricked into financing their investment with loans.” The victims not only lose money, but then have to pay back the loans plus interest.
Keyword cryptocurrency: A cryptocurrency is a digital means of payment. There are thousands of different cryptocurrencies on the market, the best known of which is Bitcoin. Cryptocurrencies are not a currency in the legal sense, but are classified as “financial instruments” according to the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). They are based on blockchain technology, which allows payment transactions to be tracked without a central authority. says the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).
Investigators can partially recover money
But the money is not necessarily gone. The authorities in North Hesse were recently able to recover almost two million euros by confiscating assets. The North Hesse Police Department has its own crypto investigation unit for this purpose. It uses special computer programs to track down the money. But time is of the essence: investigators can only recover it digitally as long as the crypto money has not yet been converted into “real” currency.
