According to South Korea’s intelligence service, North Korea is purportedly still hacking computers to mine cryptocurrency as a revenue stream for the country’s government, United Press International (UPI) reports.

Local outlet Yonhap News states that North Korean hackers are continuing to target foreign computers to implant malware and steal confidential information. The malware appears to be hi-jakcing host computers to mine – you guessed it – Monero . As ever, XMR remains the choice for crypto-jacking bandits around the globe.

Not only that, the Monero is then sent back to Kim II Sung University in Pyongyang, according to another local news outlet, Chosun Ilbo .

North Korea seems to be turning to cryptocurrency as a way to bypass ever increasing international sanctions placed on the country.

The Asian country is never far from the cryptocurrency headlines these days. Recently it was reported that a supposedly state-sponsored North Korean hacking outfit stole over $570 million worth of cryptocurrency.

Damned OneCoin scammers stole $2.3M from Kiwis using Samoan churches

Yet another organization thought to be tied the multi-billion dollar cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme OneCoin has been uncovered.

Central Bank of Samoa (CBS) has named the Samoa Worship Centre as being used as a front in the $3 billion OneCoin scam which promised unrealistic returns for investing in a fake cryptocurrency.

According to CBS’ announcement, the church and its ministers promoted OneCoin to members of their congregation. Investigators believe that over NZ$3.5 million (US$2.3 million) has been transferred into the scammer’s accounts.

Indeed, one person told local outlet RNZ Pacific , that OneCoin representatives pitched their product to the church. Several people, including ministers, made investments.

Samoa’s OneCoin scammers used the churches in New Zealand, as the CBS had previously banned OneCoin from operating in Samoa altogether. The perpetrators are thought to be using the overseas churches to circumvent the ban in their native homeland.

Samoa’s central bank launched an investigation into OneCoin about a year ago, which subsequently led to the ban on investments into the Ponzi scheme. Reports at the time also implicated church ministers in promoting the fake cryptocurrency, but investigators were still yet to comment on their capacity for fraud.

With this latest news it would seem that church ministers did indeed have a part to play. However, given the reports that some invested themselves, it’s still not entirely clear to what extent they are responsible.

It seems the OneCoin multi-level marketing network is still unraveling. Earlier this month, two men were charged in Singapore for promoting OneCoin . The pair claimed to have specialist technology to mine the coins and provide financial returns for its investors.

OneCoin, which launch in 2015, is undeniably similar to the infamous BitConnect scam that started a year later, you can read all about how that turned out here .

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Chinese man arrested for stealing electricity to mine Bitcoin

I’ve heard some pretty innovative ways to avoid the electricity bill while mining cryptocurrency, but this is a new one. A Chinese man has been stealing electricity from a local railway network operator in order to power his Bitcoin mining rigs.

Exact details of how the man stole the electricity have not been confirmed, but it appears he hacked into the Chinese railway’s mains to steal $15,000 (104,000 yuan) of electricity. His cunning plan was derailed after getting arrested by the authorities, though.

The Chinese man, Xu Xinghua, has been fined $14,500 (100,000 yuan) and sentenced to three and half years in prison for the offense, local news outlet The Paper reports .

The miscreant has also been ordered to pay for the stolen electricity, all his mining equipment has also been confiscated by the authorities.

It seems that Xinghua began stealing the electricity towards the end of last year, as Bitcoin’s price was skyrocketing. As of April 2018, Xinghua had mined a total of 3.2 BTC – worth over $20,000 at the time of writing.

Reports state that the thief had been using the electricity to run 50 Bitcoin mining machines and three cooling fans around the clock. Still, he purportedly only generated $1,500 of profit.

Cheap electricity is key to remaining profitable when mining cryptocurrency, even with free electricity it appears it’s still pretty difficult.

The authorities are beginning to take note of the huge electricity demands of cryptocurrency miners. In some cases, cryptocurrency mining operations might have their power cut during periods of high demand .

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