The iEarn Bot App is a cryptocurrency trading application that promises investors substantial returns over a short period. The app operates in several countries, including Romania, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Colombia. According to an investigation by the BBC, the app places significant emphasis on urging investors to recruit more individuals to join the app.

The BBC obtained chat conversations where people claiming to be iEarn Bot’s customer service representatives informed investors that they could only withdraw their funds by paying a 30% fee. Local leaders in Nigeria and Colombia, who communicated with iEarn Bot mentors solely via Telegram, were pressured to organize recruiting events. Other users have reported that they cannot withdraw their funds from iEarn Bot’s App.

It looked quite professional until, at some point, they announced maintenance.” At that point, for some time, withdrawals from the app were frozen.

Roxana, one of iearn bot’s users tells the BBC

According to BBC, The iEarn Bot App scam is one of the most significant cryptocurrency frauds to date, leaving thousands of investors across the world with significant financial losses. Law enforcement agencies warn that such fraudulent activities are on the rise, and investors must conduct their due diligence before investing in any cryptocurrency scheme.

Despite repeated attempts by the BBC to obtain comments from iEarn Bot, the company has not responded.

In some nations, such as Nigeria and Colombia, iEarn Bot mentors – who solely communicated with local leaders via Telegram – pressured them to organize recruiting events.

Using the assistance of an analyst, the BBC identified a primary cryptocurrency wallet that received payments from approximately 13,000 potential victims, yielding nearly $1.3m (£1m) in profit in less than a year.

Police authorities from Germany and the United States, with the support of Europol, collaborated to target ChipMixer, a cryptocurrency mixer that is well-known within the cybercriminal underworld.

Belgium, Poland, and Switzerland also provided support in the investigation. The authorities took down the platform’s infrastructure due to its alleged involvement in money laundering activities. As a result of the operation, four servers were seized, along with approximately 1909.4 Bitcoins in 55 transactions, which is worth roughly EUR 44.2 million. Additionally, 7 TB of data was also confiscated.

ChipMixer offered complete anonymity to its clients. Such services are often used by criminals to launder crypto assets before redirecting them to cryptocurrency exchanges, some of which are also involved in organized crime. At the end of the process, the “cleaned” crypto can be easily exchanged into other cryptocurrencies or converted directly into fiat currency through ATMs or bank accounts.

According to the investigation, ChipMixer helped to launder around 152,000 Bitcoins, which is estimated to be worth roughly EUR 2.73 billion currently. A significant portion of this is linked to dark web markets, ransomware groups, illicit goods trafficking, child sexual exploitation material procurement, and stolen crypto assets. Transactions worth millions of euros were uncovered after the takedown of the Hydra Market dark web platform.

Ransomware criminals, such as Zeppelin, SunCrypt, Mamba, Dharma, or Lockbit, have also used ChipMixer to launder ransom payments they received. Authorities are also exploring the possibility that some of the crypto assets stolen after the bankruptcy of a major crypto exchange in 2022 were laundered through ChipMixer.

The information exchange between national authorities was facilitated by Europol, which also supported the operation’s coordination. Europol provided analytical support, linking available data to various criminal cases within and outside the EU, and supported the investigation through operational analysis, crypto tracing, and forensic analysis. The Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce (J-CAT) at Europol also provided assistance in the operation. This standing operational team consists of cybercrime liaison officers from different countries who work on high-profile cybercrime investigations.

The Energy Ministry of Iran has mandated that owners of cryptomining equipment must register their personal information and device location in the Comprehensive Trade System of the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade.

This move is intended to prevent legally imported hardware from being used in unlicensed cryptomining facilities, according to Mohammad Khodadadi, an official with the Iran Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution Company (Tavanir).

Khodadadi stated that mining centers will be subject to random inspections to ensure transparency and validity of registered data for authorized miners. Failure to register device locations or changing them without reporting to the system will be considered a violation of rules and may lead to fines for offenders.

Cryptocurrency mining has become increasingly popular in Iran over the past few years. Despite the government’s initial skepticism about digital currencies, Iran has taken steps to regulate the industry and even embrace it as a potential source of revenue.

However, the Iranian government has taken steps to regulate the industry and prevent the use of unlicensed mining facilities. In May 2021, the Ministry of Energy announced that all cryptocurrency mining operations must be licensed and registered with the government. The Energy Ministry also required owners of cryptomining hardware to register data related to themselves as well as the location of their devices in the Comprehensive Trade System of the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade. Failure to do so could result in fines.

One of the major concerns with cryptocurrency mining in Iran is the amount of energy it consumes. The Iranian government heavily subsidizes energy, which has made the country an attractive destination for miners. However, the energy consumption of cryptocurrency mining has put a strain on the power grid, leading to blackouts in some areas.