Norway’s National Cybercrime Center is trying to hack the Monero and Dash cryptocurrencies, hoping to use them to track the missing person. According to the police, digital currencies were used as a ransom, so their transaction data could be an important key in the investigation.
“I don’t want to comment on the details of what we have done and are doing in the context of Dash and Monero,” said police spokesman Richard Beck Pedersen. “But we hope that this trail will lead to an important result for the investigation.”
He also noted that cryptocurrencies with increased privacy represent the “biggest challenge” for the investigation, as criminals increasingly resort to their help to hide their tracks. “You don’t have to be an expert to complicate matters significantly,” Pedersen said.
It is about the kidnapping of the wife of the Norwegian billionaire Tom Hagen. Anne-Elisabeth Hagen went missing in October 2018. It is believed that she was kidnapped for ransom. Unidentified persons requested NOK 90 million ($ 10.8 million).
As the authorities found out, the crime had been planned for several months. On June 28, the suspects created a password-protected document with Bitcoin and Monero addresses. They used Bitcoin exclusively for communication, while Monero was used to receive payments. In July, an email address was registered to which accounts were opened on the Binance and KuCoin exchanges using stolen documents. Two days later, an account was registered on the Huobi exchange in the same way. It received a transfer in Dash coins, which were exchanged for Bitcoin on July 10.
Earlier, Europol said that after the withdrawal of criminal proceeds to Monero, the investigation can be stopped due to the impossibility of further tracking transactions.
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