Laundering as a Service

[Borked Pseudo Mailed]

Robert,

Just sent this to gsc.  Not sure if it will get through.  Feel free to
forward (gsc or anywhere) if you think it's of interest.

----

http://www.avertlabs.com/research/blog/index.php/2009/04/29/laundering-as-a-s
ervice/

Laundering as a Service

Wednesday April 29, 2009 at 5:24 am CST
Posted by Francois Paget

Money laundering is a process for concealing the origin of funds
generated by illegal means. People generally associate money
laundering with drug trafficking, gun smuggling, or corruption. But
funds misappropriated by identity theft, phishing, and carding also
have to be laundered. Today, the mushrooming of virtual money (or e-
currency) makes the job easier when you need to eliminate traces of
suspicious actions. In the past, E-Gold and WebMoney were frequently
under suspicion and had to respond to serious allegations of having
been used to transform dirty money into clean money.

But they are not unique; ECUMoney, Liberty Reserve, PerfectMoney,
Pecunix, etc. are also on the scene. As with all digital gold
currencies, these exchangers offer nonreversible transactions, which
is a primary advantage when you want to manipulate money.

Today, websites proposing virtual money exchanges are numerous on the
Internet. They are profitable for their owners because they are
subject to significant exchange commissions. It is also relatively
safe for the people offering these services. In the past, malware
authors explained they created their programs only for educational
purposes and were not responsible for any inappropriate use. Today
administrators of such websites are trying to claim they are not
liable for the origin of the transmitting money.

Here too, the network is turning professional, and many former crooks
are now specializing in this field. In October 2004, the U.S. Secret
Service arrested people said to be responsible for a set of credit
card and identity thefts that had plagued Internet users. It was the
result of Operation Firewall. Most of them frequented ShadowCrew, a
worldwide marketplace where thousands of members traded stolen credit
cards and debit cards, as well as bank account numbers and counterfeit
identification documents, such as drivers licenses, passports, and
Social Security cards.

One convicted person, using Voleur (French for thief) as a
pseudonym, set up a special payment system for cybercrime
transactions. For a 10 percent commission, he exchanged cash for E-
Gold, the well-known and controversial digital gold currency. Voleur
laundered money for dozen of deals of forum members, moving amounts
ranging from $40,000 to $100,000 per week. With about twenty other
individuals, he pleaded guilty in November 2005, was sentenced in June
2006, and was released later on.

At that time, Voleurs work was not institutionalized. But today, I
believe, this individual is again in business and manages some
websites specialized in giving advice for digital currency activities.
One of them is named Voleur Financial Services; thats a tall order!

[image]

On another site from the same origin (same administrators), we can see
some examples of current fees:

[table]

Many people want to seize power in this fruitful business, and there
are no holds barred. Enemies of Voleur often spread stories of him on
the Internet and do not hesitate to reveal bank account numbers.

[image]

U.S. nationals are not alone in this business. At the time of
Operation Firewall, an Eastern Europe married couple (he is Russian,
she is Ukrainian),  their son, and several other people were arrested
after they moved more than $35 million in suspect funds through their
company, a pioneer of virtual money exchange. Their office was
originally located in the Empire State Building, in New York City.
Approximately $20 million flowed through E-Gold digital currency
accounts.  It is also estimated they purchased approximately $15
million worth of Webmoney digital currency.

Now, from the Manhattan House of Detention, the main prisoner/offender
keeps his blog, gives security advice, and is visited by compassionate
countrymen.  Some of his friends (I suppose) still manage such
exchange sites from Russia. From one of them, these screen shots show
transfer fees and how easy it is to remain anonymous in the world of
money transfers.

[image]

When you visit the website, you will discover a touching interview
made in a U.S. jail and the (presumed) building housing the actual
company: a bit empty, but nonetheless prestigious in the New York area.

[image]

In early April, at an annual conference of the Association of Russian
Banks, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin explained that many small banks
are now engaged in money laundering. It seems that many suspicious
online companies are also engaged in this business both in and outside
of Russia.