Bitcoin Forum

The Spanish police have arrested a cybercrime gang made up of Russian and Ukrainian nationals who were allegedly involved in stealing more than $1.24 bln from financial institutions worldwide, subsequently converting their illicit gains into Bitcoin (BTC), Associated Press reports March 26.

According to statements issued by the Spanish police and Europol, the leader of the gang, a Ukrainian named “Denis K.” and his three suspected accomplices of Russian and Ukrainian origin, have been identified and arrested in the Spanish city of Alicante. Over a period of 5 years, the criminals have reportedly stolen more than 1 bln euros ($1.24 bln) from financial institutions across the globe.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/russian-ukrainian-cybercrime-gang-arrested-in-spain-allegedly-used-btc-to-launder-124-bln

I thought they were able to steal 1 billion worth of crypto but really they just converted it into it. The be honest, this is just really disappointing to trust the current banking system as it can be easily hacked and for a long period of time before anyone could have caught the criminal. It may not have damaged any depositor, but it just goes to show that there is a great chance that the whole bank could collapse due to hacking.

Good point they are not related to the king, for they will be free by now, even if billions were stolen...
Alicante is one of the most commonly used holiday places from northern and eastern European or Asian people, maybe they were just enjoying their Easter holidays when caught. Nevertheless, these are good news, some gans going to jail is always a satisfactory reading...
The point is: many people are scared about crypto's security. Every day we read news related to how bitcoins are stolen worldwide, but one of the mean Spanish press ("El País") has put this new on the crypto and technology section! The related news they offer aside are all about crypto, even when was a bank system problem, and even when it is not related (directly) to crypto!!
I read the news in the morning and almost spit my coffee, for, under their point of view, due to the hacker bought bitcoin with the stolen money, this is going to be difficult to recover. So, on the Spanish text, they dedicate the 80% of the complete article to speak about how insecure is the crypto world and how difficult is to control the hackers, instead of talking about how insecure the bank system is. Well, banks where robbed and they bought bitcoin with the stolen money. How it can be bitcoins fault?? If they bought cars with the stolen money, would then the cars will be negative?
As always... press manipulating news in order to pollute the crypto image... But, where are they talking about the insecure bank system??

I’m sure, that journalists are exaggerate, as usual. They misinform society with supposed losses caused by a group of hackers who were engaged in insider trading and stole a handsome sum of money . If the stolen sums were really so huge, hackers would find themselves a safer and more comfortable country where criminals are not delivered up.

These hackers were stealing Fiat. They didn't steal cryptocurrencies. At the same time bankers are silent. They do not say in every media that should be banned Fiat because of its vulnerability. I am sure that if we were talking about the cryptocurrency exchange, the bankers shouted that it is necessary to ban cryptocurrencies because they can be easily stolen.

The minimum amout of money the have stolen from one institution was more than $10 mln. And this is really impressive, but I am glad to hear that police stopped them