A look back at what has been one of the biggest heists of the year so far. They are two brothers named Ameer and Rares Cajee, residents of South Africa. The two young men disappeared pocketing the incredible jackpot of 69,000 bitcoins. We are talking about billions of dollars, even at the moment when bitcoin is around 30,000 dollars...A crazy sum, once again, which according to Bloomberg, represents the biggest crypto scam in history.
It all started with an exchange platform created by the two brothers: the South African Africrypt platform, launched in 2019. The platform had attracted many users and quickly built a reputation for seriousness. Everything was going well until one day a hack occurred.
Ameer Cajee reportedly sent an email to all customers to inform them of the attack. Surprising thing: he asks customers not to inform the police to avoid them slowing down the internally organized search.
Yes, it's weird, we agree. When a company is the victim of a hack, this is generally the first thing it does: file a complaint with the police in order to work with cyber crime to launch research.
So, already there, some users feel the scorch… Some then call on a law firm (Hanekom Attorneys) which confirms to them that this matter is suspicious.
Something even more surprising that the firm discovered: they noticed that Africrypt employees no longer had access to the back-end of the platform, 7 days before the hack. Thus, the employees themselves could not carry out the slightest task on the site and not see, therefore, the flaws...
At the same time, brother Ameer becomes unreachable. Neither customers, nor partners, nor Africrypt employees can reach him.
The firm continues its investigation and realizes that the 69,000 stolen bitcoins have transited through "tumblers" which are services that allow bitcoins to be anonymized. Understand that they can no longer be traced or very difficultly because they are dispersed in thousands of anonymous transactions.
There you go, no one can contact the two brothers anymore...
A company that aroused no suspicion
The company was doing well but the temptation to leave with the fund was far too great. A lot of people say it's a shame; They could have been rich and lived without hiding while being legal and being able to boast of running a company like that of Africrypt with peace of mind.
What are they going to do with these billions? Where will they go? Will they live with the guilt of having taken money from savers? This doesn't seem to be a problem for them. Billionaires today, they will simply spend their money with impunity.
In South Africa, as bitcoin is not legally considered a financial product, this theft therefore falls outside the jurisdiction of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority.
This is not the first time such a crypto-heist has occurred. The country will certainly take steps to legislate on cryptocurrencies. We also realize how important it is to have laws because the moral laws of men do not seem sufficient...
Indeed, buy bitcoin in Africa should be done under laws to better counter the numerous frauds in the sector.
This creates bad publicity and this is not how bitcoin will gain credibility….
See also:
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Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. This is general information. Do your personal research before investing.
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[…] cryptocurrency exchange platform in Johannesburg, South Africa, called “Africrypt” in 2016. It experienced growing success very quickly attracting millions […]