Nebraska man could serve up to 30 years in prison for involvement in ‘cryptojacking’ case
A man from Nebraska is facing the possibility of spending three decades behind bars for his involvement in a significant cryptojacking operation. Charles O. Parks III, also known as “CP3O,” has been indicted by the United States Attorney’s office in Brooklyn for defrauding two well-known cloud service providers. Cryptojacking is a type of cyberattack where criminals illegally take control of a victim’s system to mine cryptocurrency using its resources, such as processing power and electricity. These attacks can take various forms and often go unnoticed until it is too late for the victim to intervene.
Parks allegedly stole $3.5 million worth of computational resources from the service providers, which he then used to mine cryptocurrencies valued at $970,000. The charges against him include wire fraud, money laundering, and engaging in unlawful monetary transactions as part of the scheme. He was arrested on April 13, 2024, and the case is being handled by the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Parks is scheduled to appear in a federal court in Omaha on April 16.
“Felons are becoming more proficient at manipulating digital tools and concealing their activities behind advanced technology, resulting in significant financial losses for their victims. The FBI is committed to relentlessly pursuing those who attempt to develop innovative methods of committing crimes,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Smith.
Parks carried out his scheme between January 2021 and August 2021. During this time, he created multiple accounts with the cloud service providers under various business names he invented, such as “MultiMillionaire LLC” and “CP3O LLC.” He used these accounts to gain access to substantial amounts of computer processing power and storage space without paying for them.
Furthermore, Parks managed to deceive the service providers into granting him elevated access to their services. With these resources, he mined several cryptocurrencies, including Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Monero (XMR). He was also accused of evading inquiries about suspicious data usage and postponing payment of bills.
Prosecutors revealed that Parks laundered the stolen funds through multiple cryptocurrency exchanges, an NFT marketplace, and traditional bank accounts. The transactions were structured in a way that avoided triggering the federal reporting threshold of $10,000.
Parks used the illicitly obtained funds for personal gain, such as purchasing a luxury Mercedes Benz car, jewelry, and extravagant travel expenses. If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of 20 years for wire fraud and 10 years for illegal monetary transactions.
Another notable cryptojacking case in 2024 involved a 29-year-old individual who illicitly mined cryptocurrencies using one million virtual servers. The suspect was arrested in January 2024 by the National Police of Ukraine, with authorities claiming that over $2 million in cryptocurrencies was mined.
Read more:
Brooklyn DA takes action against a crypto scam, preventing millions in losses for victims
South Korean police apprehend fraudsters in a $4.1 million crypto scam
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