Cryptocurrency: FBI seizes over $2.2m worth of Bitcoin from ransomware affiliate

*The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has confiscated almost 40 Bitcoins from a Russian resident tied to Revil and Gandcrab ransomware

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

The United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has seized Bitcoin worth more than $2.2million tied to ransomware payments in the country.

The cryptocurrency purportedly belongs to an affiliate of Gandcrab and Revil/Sodinokibi ransomware, members on whose trail the security agency had been until recently.

The FBI has confiscated almost 40 Bitcoins from a Russian resident tied to Revil and Gandcrab ransomware, according to a court document unsealed Tuesday, November 30, 2021, Bitcoin.Com report stated.

The forfeiture complaint reads: “The United States of America files this verified complaint in rem against 39.89138522 Bitcoin seized from Exodus wallet … that is now located and in the custody and management of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Dallas Division.”

At the time of filing the report, the price of Bitcoin is around $56,318.06 and the amount seized totals almost $2.247 million, based on data from Bitcoin.com Markets.

It was further learnt that the seizure took place August 3 this year.

While the FBI did not reveal how it gained access to the wallet, the court document explains that the wallet contained Revil ransom payments belonging to an affiliate identified as Aleksandr Sikerin (a.k.a Alexander Sikerin and Oleksandr Sikerin), whose e-mail address is engfog1337@gmail.com.

Quoting Bleeping Computer, the report indicates that the name “engfog” in the e-mail address is tied to a well-known Gandcrab and Revil/Sodinokibi affiliate known as “Lalartu.”

Gandcrab and Revil organisations operated as Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS), where core operators partner with third-party hackers, known as affiliates, the news outlet noted.

It also said that ransom payments are split between the affiliate and core operators, and the operators usually earn between 20% and 30% of the ransom.

Earlier November 2021, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had seized $6.1 million from Yevgeniy Polyanin, a Russian “charged with deploying Sodinokibi/Revil ransomware to attack businesses and government entities in the United States.”

Meanwhile, the US Government has been increasing its efforts to fight ransomware attacks.

The Treasury Department has already sanctioned two cryptocurrency exchanges tied to ransom payments.

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