WannaCry Ransomware Extorts 39 Payments Worth 6.49 BTC – TODAY

[BitcoinWhosWho]

Today’s widely reported WannaCry ransomware attack is widespread, growing and has already yielded ~USD$12k in profits according to a Bitcoin Who’s Who analysis of the BTC addresses involved. On May 12 the 3 bitcoin addresses known to be receiving extortion payments show receipt of 6.49372428 BTC in 39 separate transactions with ransom varying between .15 to .30 BTC each. None of the balances have been moved to new bitcoin addresses since receipt.

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http://bitcoinwhoswho.com/blog/2017/05/ ... far-today/

[edita]

hhhhhhh they made a lot of money!!
الربح من الانترنت - المبدع

[Possum577]

Has there been any news of those who've paid the ransom having their technology access restored?

It would be terrible (and typical) to send bitcoin to the address and never hear from these guys again. If only 39 payments have been received it seems like the world is holding strong in not negotiating with hostages....or maybe the criminals are still waiting for their transactions to be confirmed.

[cheetoblue]

or maybe the criminals are still waiting for their transactions to be confirmed.

Ok, 3 weeks down the line - wonder if the transactions have been confirmed yet?? Haha

[Possum577]

or maybe the criminals are still waiting for their transactions to be confirmed.

Ok, 3 weeks down the line - wonder if the transactions have been confirmed yet?? Haha

This is funny but it just gave me an interesting thought.

Given that transactions can be followed and BTC addresses can be watched to see how money flows from one to another, how could the authorities investigate the destination of the ransom (and therefore the source of the crime) based on watching the money flow through various addresses.

Is there any way?

[cheetoblue]

Theoretically yes...
1) If they ever want to transfer to an exchange, for example, and then change back into fiat - bang! Caught! With all the KYC legislation on exchanges I'm sure the authorities will track them there.
2) If purchasing an item online using BTC, I'm sure the authorities will be able to contact the seller and figure out who sent them the BTC?

The way I understand it, is they can collect the money, they just going to struggle to use it in any ways

[bitkilo]

Theoretically yes...
1) If they ever want to transfer to an exchange, for example, and then change back into fiat - bang! Caught! With all the KYC legislation on exchanges I'm sure the authorities will track them there.
2) If purchasing an item online using BTC, I'm sure the authorities will be able to contact the seller and figure out who sent them the BTC?

The way I understand it, is they can collect the money, they just going to struggle to use it in any ways

If they know what they are doing then they could still make it very difficult for anyone but experts to trace.
Send the coins through a couple of mixers, in and out of a couple more alt coins and gambling site then sell what's left on localbitcoins for cash.

[Rmcdermott927]

I highly doubt that these criminals will be caught by authorities chasing the money trail.

Bitcoin can be made relatively anonymous by those utilizing mixing services.

They are most likely to get caught by telling the wrong people IMO.

[cheetoblue]

Probably true - change it over to alt coins like 10 times and through a few gambling sites - probably gonna make it super difficult for the authorities