Russia cracks down on 1 billion ruble counterfeit case, suspects sell fake notes for cryptocurrencies

According to BlockBeats, Russian authorities have arrested a group of cybercriminals who reportedly sold large amounts of counterfeit banknotes on the dark web in exchange for cryptocurrency. According to an April 7 report by the Russian newspaper Kommersant, the criminal group has successfully sold more than 1 billion Russian rubles in counterfeit banknotes, worth about $13 million at press time.

The report states that the criminal group has been active for about a year, selling fake Russian rubles on the darknet in exchange for "specialized cryptocurrencies." The counterfeit bills have spread to dozens of regions in Russia. According to the report, small batches of counterfeit bills were sold for 30% of the face value, while large quantities of counterfeit bills (starting at $6,500) were sold for only 10-15%. The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs said this was the first case of its kind in the country. However, Russia is not the first country to face a counterfeit money operation involving cryptocurrencies. In September 2019, Portuguese police and Europol seized nearly $80,000 worth of counterfeit bills from counterfeit money dealers.

Original link: https://cointelegraph.com/news/russian-darknet-criminals-sell-13m-of-fake-cash-for-crypto