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Bitcoin and Anonymous Tokens Used in Illicit Child Porn Activities—Crackdown by Spanish Authorities - Blockchain.News

Bitcoin and Anonymous Tokens Used in Illicit Child Porn Activities—Crackdown by Spanish Authorities

Shine Li Jun 30, 2020 11:18

According to a recent report by Guardia Civil, Spanish authorities arrested several individuals involved in illicit crypto-driven child porn activities. Within the Kiru criminal operation ring, a man was detained for abusing his stepdaughter and using her to generate content for an illegal child porn website. Digital payouts were then made to an offshore account.

Bitcoin and Anonymous Tokens Used in Illicit Child Porn Activities—Crackdown by Spanish Authorities

According to a recent report by Guardia Civil, Spanish authorities arrested several individuals involved in illicit crypto-driven child porn activities.  

Within the Kiru criminal operation ring, a man was detained for abusing his stepdaughter and using her to generate content for an illegal child porn website. Digital payouts were then made to an offshore account.  

After further investigation of the pornographic images, the Civil Guard identified a man residing in Madrid as being the author of the illicit activity. The abuse had been ongoing for 7 years before the illicit activity was discovered. 

 

Crackdown: Investigators Locate Cybercriminal 

 

After a more thorough search, investigators were able to find where he lived, and an arrest was made immediately. 

 

It was reported that the illegal sexual pimping had been ongoing for years and dated back to 2013. The stepfather of the victim was said to have undergone his filming every time he visited his stepdaughter. The victim of sexual abuse was located in Bolivia. 

 

In the Jekyll operation, payments in cryptocurrencies were used to access child pornography. A crackdown was made by US authorities, following the production of the pornographic video. This illicit dark content was conducted by South Korean Jong-Woo Son. The operator leaked a child porn video dubbed “Welcome To Video,” that later on went viral on the dark web. 

 

Jekyll Operation Plays Jekyll and Hyde with Homeland Security Investigations  

 

The Jekyll operation was also carried out in collaboration with Homeland Security Investigations and was directed against several users of a platform located in the TOR network. It offered its users access to child pornography in exchange for a payment in Bitcoin. 

 

The analysis of thousands of cryptocurrency transactions allowed to identify a cluster of addresses associated with the investigated platform, called "Welcome 2 Video". Depending on the amount paid, users were able to gain access to a larger number of illegal files. Users received benefits for uploading videos and photos that were not previously present on the platform. 

 

Image source: Shutterstock