China News Today TheBitTimes.com

Paraguay has shut down more than 70 illegal bitcoin mines in the past five years, according to the country’s national energy supplier. Illegal mines in Paraguay reportedly steal up to $60 million worth of electricity every year — enough to light a city, according to the Administración Nacional de Electricidad (ANDE).  The Economist reports that illegal bitcoin miners contribute to an increasing number of blackouts in the country by overloading power lines unable to cope with increased demand. ANDE has also admitted that seven of its own engineers are under investigation after they were accused of illegal ly installing crypto mines using the energy provider’s own power transformers. The Paraguayan Fintech Chamber lobby group says that thanks to a combination of low taxes, predictable politics, and cheap imports of equipment, Paraguay is a mecca for crypto miners. Most of Paraguay’s share of power from the Itaipu dam is directed to Brazil as it vastly exceeds ...

Prolific wallet-draining service Pink Drainer has announced its retirement in a private Telegram chat, according to blockchain sleuth ZachXBT. The scam-as-a-service apologizes for “the lack of prior notice” before thanking its many customers, phishing scam mers who have used it to steal more than $75 million over the past year. The message makes no mention of remorse for the nearly-20,000 victims , instead assuring the scammers that any data will be “wiped and securely destroyed.” They also warn of impersonators, before urging those who have made enough money from the scams to “ take a step back from the grind and enjoy what this world has to offer .” Read more: Darkweb drugs site Incognito Market threatens to out users who paid in crypto What are wallet drainers? Wallet drainers are out-of-the-box malware packages that are developed for use by phishing scammers. Victims are lured in with false airdrop announcements or promises of lucrative returns, before being se...

A Russia n crypto miner was reportedly kidnapped on Christmas day and was told he would be framed for drug Crime s if a 15 million ruble ($164,000) ransom wasn’t paid. The events were reported by Russia n news outlet Ren TV. The 23-year-old was kidnapped outside his home in Izhevsk and bundled into a car by three men, reports say. The kidnappers drove to an unknown location before calling the victim’s brother on Telegram, demanding over 15 million rubles in exchange for his freedom. The men reportedly threatened to frame the victim by planting drugs and handing him over to the police if the brother failed to comply. According to the outlet, one of the kidnappers is said to have known the hostage personally. The car used to carry out the kidnapping may have also been stolen, as it appears to be registered to a pensioner living in Perm.  Ontario ‘crypto king’ allegedly held ransom by investor who lost $740K Read more: ‘Crypto millionaire’ found dead in Ozarks was inv...

Criminals using a stolen pickup truck attempted to steal a Bitcoin ATM in a smash-and-grab raid in Texas, causing $10,000 worth of damage. As announced by the Houston Police Department (HPD), seven people have been arrested after allegedly crashing the truck into the window of a smoke shop in the southwest of the city at 6am on Friday. After crashing the truck, the group grabbed what they could but were unable to steal the ATM, according to police. The gang also stole various tools from the truck’s owner , who told ABC, “They took everything from me. I don’t have work right now and I have to look for a job.” Footage of the attempted robbery. The smoke shop owner estimates the damages will run close to $10,000. In an interview with ABC, she said, “Please put in the jail, these crazy people. They are not safe. Because they do this almost three or four times. We do hard work and they just do a minute and mess up all things.” The shop will remain...