The rising price of Bitcoin has been met with a surge in cryptocurrency crime as reports of Bitcoin-related fraud tripled in 2017.
Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and cybercrime reporting agency, said crimes linked to Bitcoin increased to 999 in 2017, compared to 320 in the previous year. It came in a year in which the cryptocurrency's price rose from under $1,000 (£710) to nearly $20,000 in December.
The figures exclude cyber crimes such as the WannaCry ransomware attack that hit the NHS last year but include investment fraud and extortion. The rise in Bitcoin exploitation by criminals mirrored the increasing public interest in Bitcoin, with reports peaking last December at 167 compared to 41 in the same month the previous year.
source: telegraph