Close Menu
Technology Mag

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    What's Hot

    With RFK Jr. in Charge, Insurers Aren’t Saying If They’ll Cover Vaccines for Kids If Government Stops Recommending Them

    July 5, 2025

    I’m an Outdoor Writer. I’m Shopping These 55 Deals From REI’s 4th of July Sale

    July 5, 2025

    Samsung is about to find out if Ultra is enough

    July 5, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Subscribe
    Technology Mag
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    • Home
    • News
    • Business
    • Games
    • Gear
    • Reviews
    • Science
    • Security
    • Trending
    • Press Release
    Technology Mag
    Home » The $11 Billion Marketplace Enabling the Crypto Scam Economy
    Security

    The $11 Billion Marketplace Enabling the Crypto Scam Economy

    News RoomBy News RoomJuly 11, 20243 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp Email

    That public nature of the criminal transactions is all the more shocking given that Huione Guarantee is operated by Huione Group, a Cambodian financial conglomerate that includes a company linked to the family of Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Manet. One of the companies’ directors, in fact, is Hun To, the prime minister’s cousin, who has been linked in an Al Jazeera investigation to an alleged scam compound reportedly owned by Heng He, a Cambodian conglomerate owned by two Chinese nationals.

    Crypto scam researchers say that Huione Guarantee, despite its size, is just one of many money laundering methods that pig butcherers use. Given that much of the pig butchering ecosystem has ties to Chinese organized crime, pig butchering revenue is often laundered in a decentralized way by convincing individual Chinese citizens to accept and hand off cryptocurrency through their personal Alipay accounts for a small fee, notes Gary Warner, director of intelligence at cybersecurity firm DarkTower. Markets like Huione Guarantee, however, offer a path for scammers who don’t already have a laundering network they can rely on or who need to diversify their options for liquidating funds.

    A listing on Huione Guaranteed for electrified GPS-tracking shackles for detaining enslaved scam laborers.

    Courtesy of Elliptic

    It’s perhaps no surprise that Huione Guarantee began operating in 2021, given that crypto scams surged during the Covid-19 pandemic. Sophos’ Gallagher notes that in Cambodia, pig butchering operations are largely run out of hotels and resorts that struggled with plummeting tourism in 2020 and 2021. “They were financed heavily or outright owned by Chinese companies in connection with special economic zones and other development tied to Belt and Road,” he says. Gallagher’s research indicates that laborers working on pig butchering in Cambodia—often against their will—are typically not citizens but have come from the surrounding region. “These facilities follow the same playbook as far as taking people’s passports and then using electrical shocks, cattle prods, and other physical punishment for not following the rules.”

    As disturbing as it may be that a service enabling billions of dollars annually in crypto scam industry transactions is being run in the open—and with links to one of Cambodia’s most powerful families—Elliptic’s Robinson suggests that brazenness offers an opportunity to disrupt a keystone of that criminal industry: He proposes international sanctions targeting Huione’s leadership.

    “This has the hallmarks of a darknet marketplace, but it’s run by a large Cambodian conglomerate, which has documented links to the ruling family there,” Robinson argues. “There is surely scope to impose sanctions on a business such as this, to hinder this type of marketplace from operating.”

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleApple to Allow Rivals to Access ‘Tap and Go’ Technology
    Next Article Apple’s AirPods Max have dropped below $400 for the first time

    Related Posts

    The Promise and Peril of Digital Security in the Age of Dictatorship

    July 5, 2025

    Identities of More Than 80 Americans Stolen for North Korean IT Worker Scams

    July 3, 2025

    A Group of Young Cybercriminals Poses the ‘Most Imminent Threat’ of Cyberattacks Right Now

    July 3, 2025

    How to Protest Safely in the Age of Surveillance

    July 3, 2025

    US Supreme Court Upholds Texas Porn ID Law

    July 3, 2025

    ICE Rolls Facial Recognition Tools Out to Officers’ Phones

    July 3, 2025
    Our Picks

    I’m an Outdoor Writer. I’m Shopping These 55 Deals From REI’s 4th of July Sale

    July 5, 2025

    Samsung is about to find out if Ultra is enough

    July 5, 2025

    Everything You Can Do in the Photoshop Mobile App

    July 5, 2025

    The Promise and Peril of Digital Security in the Age of Dictatorship

    July 5, 2025
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • Vimeo
    Don't Miss
    News

    The Ploopy Knob is an open-source control dial for your PC

    By News RoomJuly 4, 2025

    Ploopy has announced another desktop accessory called the Ploopy Knob that can function like a…

    Laid-off workers should use AI to manage their emotions, says Xbox exec

    July 4, 2025

    Despite Protests, Elon Musk Secures Air Permit for xAI

    July 4, 2025

    This Is Why Tesla’s Robotaxi Launch Needed Human Babysitters

    July 4, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of use
    • Advertise
    • Contact
    © 2025 Technology Mag. All Rights Reserved.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.