A recent report from Elliptic Research has found that Huione Guarantee, an online marketplace operated by the Cambodian conglomerate Huione Group, facilitates online scams across Southeast Asia.
The platform, mainly operating in Chinese, has been linked to over $11 billion in transactions, much of which is connected to scams and money laundering activities.
Huione Guarantee runs thousands of instant messaging app channels, each managed by different merchants. Many of these merchants provide services for executing cybercrime, including money laundering and developing scam software and websites. Some also offer equipment used to torture and imprison scam compound workers.
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Although Huione Guarantee uses bank transfers and payment apps, it predominantly relies on Tether (USDT) for transactions. The transparency of blockchain technology allowed Elliptic to trace thousands of crypto addresses associated with Huione Guarantee and its merchants.
The report emphasizes that exchanges and businesses can screen crypto transactions for links to Huione wallets to prevent further criminal activities, while stablecoin operators can block misuse of their assets through these wallets. Elliptic added:
Law enforcement can also use our investigation tools to trace these payments and pursue those responsible for these scams. Crypto is a weak point of those scams that make use of it, which can be used to help bring those responsible to justice.
Elliptic exposing Huione Guarantee's scam network underscores the critical role of blockchain transparency in combating online crime.
In other news, Pink Drainer, a crypto wallet-draining group, recently lost nearly $30,000 in an address poisoning scam.
