Approximately half a million pounds worth of Bitcoin were seized from Gran West, who mostly used 'phishing' email scams to obtain the financial data of tens of thousands of customers.
West would sell the private data and convert the profit into Bitcoins, storing the digital currency in multiple accounts.
Man jailed after conducting cyber attacks and selling personal information on the dark web https://t.co/sFJBjM3kuE pic.twitter.com/eBPf8nbnxR
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) May 25, 2018
Operating under the pseudonym "Courvoisier," West was sentenced on Friday, 25 May at Southwark Crown Court to ten years and eight months' imprisonment.
The Metropolitan police seized around half a million pounds worth of Bitcoin, following the arrest. It was the first time the Met apprehended a form of cryptocurrency, with only one other seizure of virtual currency recorded in the UK.
"This case illustrates the lengths that our detectives will go to in order to pursue offenders on the dark web. We will use many different measures to ensure such offenders are identified, prosecuted and their assets are seized. This is the first time we have seized a cryptocurrency and we are determined to remain one step ahead of cyber criminals who believe they can act with impunity," Detective Chief Superintendent Mick Gallagher, Head of the Met's Organised Crime Command, said in a statement.
The jailed hacker has been trading on the dark web since March 2015, selling financial data and cannabis. In an attempt to obtain personal information of 165,000 people, West executed a phishing scam posing as online takeaway service Just Eat. His actions cost the firm approximately £200,000.
