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Cryptojacker Gets 1 Year For $3.5M Fraud Sceme
Crypto Trends

Cryptojacker Gets 1 Year For $3.5M Fraud Sceme

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A crypto influencer has been sentenced to just over a year in prison for what US prosecutors called a large-scale cryptojacking operation that defrauded two major cloud computing providers.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Friday that a Brooklyn federal court sentenced Charles O. Parks III, who also went by “CP3O,” to one year and one day in prison for the scheme that defrauded the computing providers of more than $3.5 million in resources.

Parks used fake corporate identities such as “MultiMillionaire LLC” and “CP3O LLC” to trick two unnamed cloud providers into granting him elevated computing privileges, which he exploited to mine nearly $1 million worth of Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Monero (XMR) between January and August 2021, prosecutors said.

Cryptojacking is when resources such as computing power or electricity are used without permission to mine crypto. Parks pleaded guilty to wire fraud in December after also facing charges of money laundering and unlawful transactions that carried a potential 50-year maximum prison sentence.

“Charles Parks manipulated technology, stole millions in computer resources, and illegally mined cryptocurrency — and today’s sentencing holds him fully accountable for his deceitful actions,” said New York City Police Department commissioner Jessica S. Tisch.

Parks lied to misuse computing resources: DOJ

According to the DOJ, Parks told one provider he would use the computing resources to build an online training firm focused on media, tech and business strategy.

He told the company that he aimed to serve 10,000 students — but prosecutors said “in reality, there was no training company, and there were no students,” and the resources were used to mine crypto.

Parks deflected when the providers started inquiring about “questionable data usage and mounting unpaid subscription balances,” the DOJ added.

Crypto laundered to buy luxury items

According to prosecutors, Parks laundered the crypto mined through the providers through crypto exchanges, a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, online payment processors and banks, converting them into cash to fund luxury purchases, including a Mercedes-Benz, jewelry, and first-class travel. 

An indictment from April 2024 said Parkes created multiple accounts with a subsidiary of “cloud computing and consumer electronic device headquartered in Seattle, Washington,” and a firm that makes “personal computers and related services headquartered in Redmond, Washington.”

He was ordered to forfeit $500,000 and the Mercedes-Benz, with a court to decide restitution at a later date.

Parks used crypto gains to build a reputation

Prosecutors said Parks had boasted about his profits online in an attempt to earn credibility as a crypto influencer, sharing tips for achieving what he called a “MultiMillionaire Mentality” in a September 2022 YouTube video.

Related: Bitcoin miners and AI firms compete for cheap sustainable energy

His website, which is still online, promoted a subscription-based self-improvement and wealth coaching program for $10 a month, with optional one-on-one consulting at $150 per month and rewards paid in his crypto token.

Parks (pictured) also went by the moniker “CP30,” a humanoid robot from the Sci-Fi franchise Star Wars. Source: MultiMillionaire LLC

But US Attorney Nocella Jr said that Parks wasn’t the innovator and thought leader he had branded himself to be.

“In the end he was merely a fraudster whose secret to getting rich quick was lying and stealing.”

Magazine: Altcoin season 2025 is almost here… but the rules have changed



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Expedition 33 Actor Felt Like A "Total Fraud" After The Game Became A Massive Success
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Expedition 33 Actor Felt Like A “Total Fraud” After The Game Became A Massive Success

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One of the big draws for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was its cast of voice actors, as the turn-based RPG featured the talents of Charlie Cox, Ben Starr, Jennifer English, and Andy Serkis. For Cox, the critical success of the game has not gone unnoticed by him, as he remarked that he’d only heard good things about it. Jokingly, the Daredevil actor said that he felt like a “total fraud” for having only been in a studio for several hours to record his lines as Gustave, who quickly became a fan-favorite character with players.

“I don’t mean to minimize it in any way, and apparently, the game is awesome. I’m not a gamer, I haven’t played it,” Cox said at Washington State Summer Con (via Culture Crave). “My agent asked me if I wanted to go and do a voiceover–I was in the studio for 4 hours. People keep saying ‘congratulations’ and I feel like a total fraud. But I’m so thrilled for the company, I’m so thrilled it did really well.”

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Now Playing: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 GameSpot Video Review

While Cox’s work for Expedition 33 was done in a day, his character still had a massive impact on the game, especially in its early hours and at the end of its first act. The performances of Cox and the rest of the cast have been widely hailed for their nuanced and emotional performances, which helped make Expedition 33 the best-reviewed game for several months.

Developer Sandfall Interactive has also been talking about what’s next for Expedition 33. The studio is looking at adding “a wide range of future improvements” including expanded localization and accessibility features. Sandfall is also preparing to start working on its next game, and while it is ready to say what exactly its next title might be, the studio did mention that it has some “great ideas” to work with on it.



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AI Deepfakes Drove 40% of High-Value Crypto Fraud Last Year: Report

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In brief

  • AI deepfakes of celebrities, government officials, and more accounted for 40% of “high-value” crypto fraud in 2024, a Bitget report claimed.
  • Crypto scam losses reached $4.6 billion in 2024, representing a 24% increase from previous year.
  • Social engineering schemes ranked as second-most dangerous crypto fraud method, followed by modern Ponzi schemes.

AI-generated deepfake impersonations of government officials, billionaires, and celebrities accounted for 40% of “high-value frauds” in 2024, a Bitget report revealed.

That same year, $4.6 billion in crypto was lost to scams, a 24% increase from the previous year, Bitget’s Anti-Scam Report 2025—co-authored with Slowmist and Elliptic—found.

“Crypto scams have entered a new era—driven by AI deepfakes, social engineering, and deceptive project fronts,” the report said. “Scams now exploit trust and psychology as much as technology. From wallet takeovers to multimillion-dollar frauds, the attacks are becoming more personalized, more believable, and harder to detect.”

A “frequent” deepfake that appeared, according to the report, featured Tesla CEO Elon Musk pitching fraudulent investment or giveaway schemes. Other uses for deepfakes include bypassing know-your-customer verification, creating virtual identities to lead investment scams, and conducting fake Zoom phishing attacks.



The Zoom scam sees scammers impersonate executives, experts, and journalists—including Decrypt reporters—to get a victim on a fraudulent video call. This may see the attacker offer the victim a job or ask to interview them for a non-existent article. During the fake Zoom call, attackers can gain control of the victim’s computer, steal data, and potentially access private crypto keys. 

Bitget reports that in some cases, the attackers are using deepfake tools to generate video and audio content to trick the victim into joining the call.

Many of these deepfake scams aren’t new; the Elon Musk scam first went viral in 2022. However, with the rapid acceleration of artificial intelligence, deepfakes have started to look real. So much so that President Trump signed the bipartisan Take It Down Act last month that protected the victims of deepfake porn—although, deepfakes in general still aren’t prohibited. 

In May, actor Jamie Lee Curtis called out Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg after discovering a fake AI-generated ad of herself promoting a product without her consent.

“The biggest threat to crypto today isn’t volatility—it’s deception,” Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said, in a release. “AI has made scams faster, cheaper, and harder to detect.”

Outside of deepfakes, social engineering and modern Ponzi schemes ranked second and third as the report’s “most dangerous” scams. 

By definition, social engineering scams exploit the psychology of victims in a method that is “low-tech, yet highly effective,” the report says. One of the most common examples is the pig butcher scam, also called a romance scam, which sees the attacker develop a relationship with the victim solely to scam them.

As for the ol’ classic Ponzi scheme—named after the early 20th century scammer Charles Ponzi—the report claims that the scam has gone through a “digital evolution.”

“These scams typically disguise themselves in new concepts like DeFi, NFTs, and GameFi, packaged as project fundraising, liquidity mining, or platform token staking,” the report states. “Fundamentally, they remain classic Ponzi schemes where ‘new money fills old holes.’ Once the cash flow breaks or the operators cash out and exit, the entire system collapses quickly.”

The report notes a rise in Ponzi schemes that adopt “game-like user interfaces” and use deepfakes to forge endorsements from celebrities to boost credibility in the scheme. AI has revolutionized the scamming industry, resulting in a markedly different landscape from just a few years ago.

“Five years ago, avoiding scams meant ‘don’t click suspicious links,'” the report finished. “Today, it’s ‘don’t trust your own eyes.'”

Edited by James Rubin

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Thai Police Arrest Chinese Suspect in $6.1 Million Bitcoin Fraud Case

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In brief

  • Thai police arrested Chinese national Tianwei at Don Mueang Airport on June 12 for allegedly stealing $6.15 million in Bitcoin.
  • The arrest followed an April complaint and a May 16 warrant after Tianwei vanished from a business deal in Chiang Rai.
  • It’s the latest in a series of Asian crypto fraud busts, including major cases in Vietnam and India.

Thai immigration police arrested a Chinese fugitive at Don Mueang Airport Thursday morning as he attempted to flee to Singapore, ending a manhunt connected to millions in stolen Bitcoin.

The man, Tianwei, was arrested at 6 a.m. local time (7 p.m. ET) on Thursday at the international departure terminal as he attempted to board Lion Air flight SL100, according to a report by local news outlet Khaosod English.

The airport intercept ended a month-long manhunt that began when two Chinese victims reported losing $6.15 million (200 million baht) in Bitcoin to the suspect after a business meeting in Mae Sai district.

Chiang Rai Provincial Court issued the arrest warrant on May 16. Intelligence reports indicated Tianwei would attempt to flee the country, prompting authorities to alert Don Mueang immigration officers.

The suspect reportedly communicated in English during his arrest. Sergeant Suwaphan Utsaha, commander of the Don Mueang Immigration checkpoint, served as an interpreter to inform him of his rights and the charges against him. 

Tianwei confirmed his identity and told officers he had never been arrested in this case before.



Thailand’s notoriously tough stance on foreign fraud suspects means Tianwei faces a grim future, according to Archer Wolfe, founder of the crypto consultancy firm MohrWolfe and a former resident of Thailand.

“It’s no surprise that Thai immigration continues cracking down on fraud amongst foreigners—they’re famous for their hardcore measures,” Wolfe told Decrypt. “However, once they’re suspicious of you, and you get caught, they will dissect your entire life, starting with your smartphone and every conversation you have in it.”

Wolfe predicted harsh consequences, saying that the suspect “is going to be extradited back to China” and “the Thai government is then going to keep that Bitcoin unless an exorbitant fee is paid and simply close the book.”

Crypto crackdown in Asia

The arrest comes amid a regional crackdown on crypto fraud that has netted hundreds of millions in seized assets across Asia.

India’s Central Bureau of Investigation arrested Delhi resident Rahul Arora on Tuesday and seized over $327,000 in crypto from a cybercrime operation targeting U.S. and Canadian victims through caller ID spoofing and social engineering.

Last month, Vietnamese authorities dismantled the Matrix Chain pyramid scheme after a 200-day investigation, arresting five suspects accused of defrauding 185,000 victims out of nearly $400 million.

In February, Thai and Chinese police teamed up to arrest two Chinese nationals and seize $2.5 million worth of Tether’s USDT stablecoin from a large-scale scam operation.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair

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Elite Footballers Named in $3.4 Million Crypto Fraud Case

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In brief

  • Six professional footballers, including World Cup winners, are under investigation for allegedly promoting a crypto project that defrauded investors of at least $3.4 million.
  • Spanish prosecutors allege the Shirtum platform used player endorsements to sell NFTs tied to image rights, but never delivered a working product.
  • Victims say funds were siphoned for personal use while the platform was quietly abandoned, prompting a criminal probe in Barcelona.

Six elite footballers, including World Cup winners and former Barcelona and Sevilla stars, are facing fraud allegations after a crypto company they promoted vanished with millions in investor funds, leaving thousands holding worthless digital tokens.

Barcelona’s Fifth District Court has launched a criminal investigation into a crypto and NFT scheme allegedly fronted by a group of Spanish and Argentine businessmen, with promotional help from the players, according to an El Periodico report.

Filed by 12 victims earlier this year, the case accuses Shirtum Europa SLU and its promoters of defrauding investors out of at least $3.4 million (€3 million) through the sale of non-functional NFTs tied to footballer image rights, purchased with the company’s in-house token, $SHI. 

Among those named in the complaint are World Cup winners “Papu” Gómez and Lucas Ocampos, ex-Barca players Ivan Rakitić and Javier Saviola, as well as Nico Pareja and Alberto Moreno.

The alleged masterminds, Argentine businessman David Rozencwaig and Catalan entrepreneurs Manel Ángel Torras, his son Marc Alberto Torras, and Manuel Morillas, are accused of creating a “complex corporate structure” in Spain and Andorra, designed to evade taxes and avoid personal liability.

The complaint includes 13 expert reports and a financial analysis by top economics professor Prosper Lamothe, who describes the company’s structure as deliberately opaque and tax-evasive.

The NFTs were marketed as exclusive digital collectibles, some priced at over $513 (€450), but were never made tradable or supported by a functioning platform.

Shirtum allegedly used players’ reputations to build credibility, presenting them as “founders” and public ambassadors, according to the complaint cited by local reports. 

In March 2022, Shirtum claimed it had suffered two massive crypto thefts and was the victim of a hack, yet no police report was ever filed. 

Meanwhile, investigators say funds were siphoned for personal use, and the Shirtum platform was quietly abandoned. 

The footballers served as promotional faces for the venture, with “Papu” Gómez—a close friend of alleged ringleader David Rozencwaig—allegedly recruiting other players after promoting himself as a company “founder” before systematically erasing all Shirtum evidence from social media alongside his fellow players.

Big names, big losses

“This Shirtum Europa case really shows how tricky things can get with crypto and NFTs,” Mohith Agadi, founder of decentralized fact-checking system Fact Protocol, told Decrypt. “People see big names like football stars and think it’s a safe bet, but that trust can be exploited.”

The Shirtum scandal points to the volatile relationship between Spanish football and crypto partnerships. 

A ban on gambling advertising implemented in 2021 prevents La Liga teams from agreeing such deals with betting companies, creating a sponsorship vacuum that crypto firms rushed to fill.

However, this crypto embrace has proven problematic. 

Many La Liga clubs have been left with “defaults, complaints, and an experience to forget” after partnerships with crypto sponsors soured, with several Spanish clubs now suing their crypto partners for unpaid sponsorship fees.

As Agadi noted, “Blockchain’s great for tracking transactions, but scammers use it to fake legitimacy too.”

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair

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Judge Overturns Convictions in Mango Markets Exploiter’s Crypto Fraud Case

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A U.S. judge has overturned the fraud and market manipulation convictions of Avraham Eisenberg, the crypto trader accused of draining $110 million from the now-defunct decentralized finance protocol Mango Markets.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian ruled that prosecutors failed to prove Eisenberg made false representations to the platform.

He also moved to acquit Eisenberg of wire fraud charges. The investor manipulated the price of Mango’s native token MNGO with massive trades by more than 1,000% in 20 minutes before getting the protocol to allow him to borrow and withdraw $110 million in various cryptocurrencies, backed by the inflated collateral.

Eisenberg’s defense argued that the platform, which operated through smart contracts, allowed anyone to transact freely and that he simply exploited a vulnerability. The judge agreed, stating that Mango’s permissionless structure meant that there “was insufficient evidence of falsity” from prosecutors regarding Eisenberg’s representation to Mango Markets.

Eisenberg was arrested in December 2022, and while this case collapsed, he is still currently serving a four-year sentence handed out after he pleaded guilty to the possession of child sexual abuse material.

“From the beginning, we said this case was fatally flawed,” his attorney Brian Klein of Waymaker LLP said. “We are very pleased for Avi that the judge granted our motion and dismissed the case.”



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SafeMoon CEO Found Guilty in US Crypto Fraud Trial

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In brief

  • Braden Karony, CEO of SafeMoon, was convicted in a U.S. federal court of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.
  • Prosecutors said Karony misled investors about access to the token’s liquidity pool and used millions in diverted funds for real estate and luxury cars.
  • The SafeMoon token once reached a market cap of more than $8 billion before collapsing amid fraud allegations.

A U.S. federal jury has found Braden Karony, the chief executive of digital asset firm SafeMoon, guilty on all counts in a crypto fraud case that prosecutors said led to the misappropriation of millions of dollars in investor funds.

Karony was convicted of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering following a 12-day trial before U.S. District Judge Eric R. Komitee in the Eastern District of New York. He faces up to 45 years in prison when sentenced.

A jury also ordered the forfeiture of one residential property and the proceeds from the sale of another, amounting to roughly $2 million.

Prosecutors said the scheme undermined investor confidence in digital assets and contributed to broader concerns about fraud in the crypto market.

“The SafeMoon digital asset was anything but safe and turned out to be pie in the sky for investors who were deliberately misled by Karony, a man who sought to get rich quick by stealing and diverting millions of dollars,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr. said in a statement.

Prosecutors alleged Karony and his “co-conspirators” misled investors about the structure and safety of SafeMoon, a token issued in 2021 that applied a 10% transaction tax on transfers. 

Half of that fee was purportedly redistributed to token holders, while the remainder was said to be locked in a liquidity pool to support trading.

In reality, the Justice Department said Karony and others retained access to the liquidity pool and diverted substantial funds for personal use. 

Despite public claims that they did not hold or trade SafeMoon tokens, Karony and others repeatedly bought and sold the asset for personal gain, including during peak prices, the court heard.

The diverted funds were used to purchase multiple properties, luxury vehicles, including an Audi R8 and Tesla, and custom trucks, according to the indictment.

Karony is accused of concealing his trading activity and use of investor funds through a series of pseudonymous wallets and unhosted accounts on centralized exchanges. 

He personally obtained more than $9 million in crypto assets from the scheme, authorities said.

One co-defendant, Thomas Smith, has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing. Another, Kyle Nagy, remains at large.

The case was investigated by the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 

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SEC Charges Unicoin, Executives Over Alleged $110 Million Crypto Fraud

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In brief

  • The SEC has charged Unicoin and top executives with allegedly misleading over 5,000 investors in a $100 million crypto offering.
  • Regulators said Unicoin made false statements about asset backing, registration, and the total amount raised.
  • The SEC alleges Unicoin’s marketing campaign used widespread advertising to promote the offering as a secure investment.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday charged New York-based Unicoin and three of its top executives with allegedly misleading investors and raising more than $100 million through false claims about crypto asset offerings and company stock.

In a complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, the SEC accused Unicoin CEO Alex Konanykhin, board member Silvina Moschini, and former Chief Investment Officer Alex Dominguez of promoting so-called “rights certificates” tied to Unicoin tokens through allegedly false or misleading statements.

The complaint also targets the company’s general counsel, Richard Devlin, for misleading statements in private placement memoranda. Without admitting wrongdoing, Devlin has agreed to pay a $37,500 penalty and accept a permanent injunction.

“We allege that Unicoin and its executives exploited thousands of investors with fictitious promises that its tokens, when issued, would be backed by real-world assets including an international portfolio of valuable real estate holdings,” Mark Cave, associate director in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, said in a statement. “But as we allege, the real estate assets were worth a mere fraction of what the company claimed.”

The case comes as the SEC, under the Trump administration, has retreated from several high-profile crypto enforcement actions, including recent cases against Coinbase, Ripple, Kraken, and Consensys.

Recent actions against Coinbase, Ripple, Kraken, and Consensys have been dropped amid a broader shift away from the more aggressive regulatory stance taken by the previous administration.

According to the SEC, Unicoin falsely claimed its tokens were registered with the agency and that it had raised $3 billion in rights certificate sales, when it raised just over $110 million.

The agency further alleges Konanykhin personally sold nearly 38 million certificates to investors otherwise barred from participating.

Unicoin allegedly placed ads in airports, taxis, and on television to attract investors, presenting the offerings as “next generation” secure investments.

Speaking to Decrypt in April, Konanykhin vowed to contest the charges in court. “I fully intend to win this case in the courtroom,” he said. “It’s grotesque that the most compliant crypto company in the U.S. remains the only one being persecuted by the SEC.”

He argues the lawsuit doesn’t represent the views of the current SEC leadership. 

“This is being driven by rogue officials left over from the Gensler administration who are trying to cover themselves by bullying us into a false admission of guilt,” Konanykhin said at the time.

The SEC is seeking injunctive relief, disgorgement, and civil penalties against all named defendants, as well as officer-and-director bans for the three senior executives.

Konanykhin has been contacted for comment.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair

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A Unicoin taxi cab ad in Manhattan in May 2024. (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)
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SEC Charges Unicoin, Top Executives With $100M ‘Massive Securities Fraud’

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued crypto company Unicoin and three executives on Tuesday night on fraud charges, saying the company raised over $100 million for tokens that were not actually backed by the real estate its executives claimed.

The SEC sued Unicoin, CEO Alexander Konanykhin, former board chair Maria Moschini, senior vice president and general counsel Richard Devlin and former chief investment officer and investor relations officer Alejandro Dominguez on securities law violations,

Among its allegations, the SEC said Unicoin never actually owned the real estate properties it told investors it had acquired, and that those properties’ values were inflated.

“For example, between September 2023 and January 2024, the Promoting Defendants announced acquisitions of properties in Argentina, Thailand, Antigua, and the Bahamas, purportedly with appraised values totaling more than of $1.4 billion; in fact, the majority of those transactions never closed and the actual combined value of the four properties was no more than $300 million,” the complaint said.

The defendants also “overstated the Company’s sales” of its rights certificates, suggesting in social media posts and to investors that it had raised far more funds than it actually had, the SEC alleged. While Unicoin claimed it had made $3 billion in sales by June 2024, it actually never sold more than $110 million in its rights certificates, according to the complaint.

Moreover, Unicoin advertised its rights certificates, including by promising outsized returns of up to 9 million percent, the SEC alleged, pointing to marketing efforts on taxi cabs, ferries, “office building elevator screens,” digital billboards, coasters, television programs, news websites and public wi-fi kiosks.

A Unicoin taxi cab ad in Manhattan in May 2024. (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)

“Additional examples of the Promoting Defendants’ statements include: (a) social media and website posts that touted potential returns of 9,000,000% based on bitcoin’s 9,000,000% growth in the past 10 years and told investors to ‘take advantage of the early days of Unicoin and get them today,’ highlighting that ‘Bitcoin experienced a tremendous rise in value, transforming early adopters into millionaires, and even billionaires,'” the filing said.

Read more: Unicoin CEO: Why Are We Still Under the SEC’s Gun?

Unicoin received a Wells notice from the SEC last December, informing the company that the regulator — then under the leadership of former Chair Gary Gensler — intended to file securities fraud charges. Last month, Konanykhin sent a letter to Unicoin’s shareholders, informing them that the company had rebuffed the SEC’s attempt to settle the charges, rejecting what he described as an “ultimatum” to attend a settlement negotiation meeting by April 18.

“We declined to show up,” Konanykhin told CoinDesk in an April interview, adding that the SEC had made certain pre-meeting demands he deemed “unacceptable” and claiming that the SEC’s probe had caused “multi-billion-dollar damages” to the company.

Read more: Unicoin CEO Reject’s SEC’s Attempt to Settle Enforcement Probe

Neither Konanykhin nor a spokesperson for Unicoin responded to CoinDesk’s request for comment by press time. In a press release shared earlier this year in response to a Wall Street Journal article, a spokesperson said, “Unicoin, the only fully U.S.-registered, U.S.-regulated, U.S.-audited, and U.S.-publicly reporting cryptocurrency company, has consistently complied with all regulations.”

According to court documents, the SEC is seeking disgorgement and civil penalties.



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