Mudanjiang police successfully cracked a case of stealing electricity to mine Bitcoin

China National Radio Mudanjiang News on April 10 (Reporter Ma Junwei Correspondent Wang Anzheng) In many residential garages, more than 60 mining machines were operating simultaneously, illegally stealing electricity worth more than 300,000 yuan. Recently, the Qixing Police Station of the Dong'an Branch of the Mudanjiang Public Security Bureau and the State Grid Mudanjiang Power Supply Company worked together to successfully crack a case of Bitcoin "mining machine" stealing electricity.

In recent years, with the rapid increase in the transaction price of Bitcoin, more and more people have begun to make profits by purchasing Bitcoin mining machines to mine Bitcoin. Bitcoin is produced through "mining". The so-called "mining" is actually everyone working together to solve the same math problem, which requires a certain amount of calculation to solve. The "miner" who can get the answer first can share the "Bitcoin" reward. "Mining machines" are special computers that earn Bitcoin by running algorithms. These computers generally have professional mining chips and work in the form of a large number of graphics cards, which consumes a lot of electricity. Because the main cost of Bitcoin mining is high electricity bills, some people take risks to obtain illegal profits and think of stealing electricity.

At the end of 2021, a criminal gang in Mudanjiang attempted to make money through virtual currency mining, so they rented several garages in Dong'an District and purchased more than 60 "mining" equipment. However, they found that the "mining" equipment consumed a lot of electricity, so they bought transformers, high-voltage cables and other equipment to save electricity costs by stealing national electricity. The theft of electricity for "mining" caused abnormal line loss at the location of the garage. This situation attracted the attention of the power supply department and sought help from the public security department. After receiving this alarm, the Dong'an Branch immediately assigned the Qixing Police Station to draw elite police forces to investigate the case.

After investigation, the police mastered the basic situation of the case, and through continuous visits and investigations, with the professional and technical support of the power supply company, they finally locked the specific location of the "mining machine" and formulated a detailed arrest plan. Finally, the Joint Criminal Investigation Brigade arrested the criminal suspect Wang on March 20, 2022, and sealed more than 60 "mining machine" electricity theft devices on the spot, and seized more than 300,000 yuan involved in the case.

After interrogation, the criminal suspect Wang confessed to the crime of stealing electricity and using a Bitcoin "mining machine" to make profits in order to reduce the high electricity costs.

At present, criminal coercive measures have been taken against Wang and the case is under further investigation.