Scammers Pose as Chinese Business Newspaper and Demand Bitcoin Ransom

China Business Journal reported that the perpetrators contacted companies by sending them messages via the Swiss encrypted email service Proton Mail. The criminals frightened their victims by claiming that during some secret investigations, they had discovered compromising information. For agreeing not to publish these business-compromising materials, the scammers demanded a ransom in bitcoins. The ransom amount was not specified.

The management of China Business Journal assures that the newspaper has no connection to the letters and considers the senders to be scammers. The amount of losses suffered by entrepreneurs who may have been affected by the scheme is also not reported. The publication did not provide screenshots of the emails or name the companies that the fraudsters contacted. The Bitcoin address where the scammers demanded the ransom be transferred was also concealed.

China Business Journal is currently gathering evidence and intends to file a civil and criminal lawsuit against the organizers of the scheme.

Earlier this year, Malaysian police arrested 22 Chinese citizens working in a fraudulent call center, whose employees offered cryptocurrency investments. The victims of the call center were mostly Europeans, particularly Italians.