You’d be forgiven if you came across “Alibaba Coins” and considered it to be another of Jack Ma’s brainchild. Truth be told, the actual (BABA.N) sued the Dubai-based firm who were profiting from their name. The profits are no joke either, as the fraudulent company used Alibaba’s trademarked name and since have raised more than $3.5 million.
Fraud And Scams Make Money in Bear Market
“prominent, repeated, and intentionally misleading” use of the trademarks is confusing the consumers regarding products belonging to the e-commerce giant and those of the fraudulent Dubai-based firm.
Neither Alibabacoin, which is also known as ABBC Foundation nor its law firm immediately responded to requests for comment when BTCManager reached out.
The filed lawsuit looks for an end to further infringement allegations, in addition to compensatory, corrective and triple damages for asserted infringement of federal and the New York law.
, a US District Judge, issued a temporary restraining order to Alibabacoin after the lawsuit was filed. Furthermore, the Alibabacoin promoters are scheduled for a hearing on April 11, 2018, to explain their position and defend these allegations.
Possible Good Idea, Horrible Execution
Launched by Jason Phillip in early 2018, the coin replaces personal keys with facial recognition technology, which offers more security than traditional electronic wallets.
“Your participation in our ICO is not only about investing in a cryptocoin’s possible growth, it means you are helping the new innovation in the future,” Philip last month.
Compared to this, the Group Holding Limited is a Chinese multinational e-commerce, retail, Internet, AI and technology conglomerate that has positioned itself as being a leading on- and offline B2B marketplace. In unrelated news, Jack Ma’s firm has been sporadically involved in lawsuits, as a plaintiff, and as a defendant, over the sale of fake goods on its website.
As observed by court, Alibabacoin has used Alibaba’s brand image to capitalize on their reputation for success by using the latter’s trademarks sans alteration in various instances.
Despite Alibaba having repeatedly said “it is not interested in moving into the cryptocurrency space,” confusion over its role has spread throughout the media, and Alibabacoin has “done nothing to combat or correct this confusion,” the complaint said.
Here’s to hoping there are fewer infringement issues in the cryptocurrency sector as this can take a significant toll on its image. Get your thing together, Alibabacoin!
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Even with the slump in the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, digital assets remain a hotcake for cybercriminals and bad actors. Gabriele Pearson is the latest bad guy in the British crypto space.
PayPal for bitcoin
According to , UK resident Gabriele Pearson has succeeded in adding his name to the history books as one of the infamous pioneers of bitcoin crime in Britain. His £50,000 ($70,010) stash has been seized in a “proceeds of crime order,” and he’s been hammered with a 15-month jail term.
The internet fraudster stole people’s PayPal login details and laundered the proceeds via Second Life, an exciting online game, before using the stolen funds to buy bitcoin.
Thanks to the clever police officers of the Surrey and Sussex police Joint Cyber Crime Unit, who painstakingly traced the funds to Pearson’s personal computer, they discovered he was a bitcoin enthusiast through his search history and had bought the cryptocurrency with the stolen funds.
First Confiscation of bitcoin Under Proceeds of Crime Act
The cryptos were promptly seized, following Section 47 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The Surrey Police Economic Crime Unit may confiscate the under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. A police detective investigating the case revealed to the court that the Slough, Berkshire cyberpunk was able to perpetuate the crime through the login details of clients he obtained at his workplace.
“Gabriele Pearson committed his crimes by repeatedly remote logging onto a series of computers owned by his IT Company and their client, forming a complex chain of logins. He obtained company PayPal account information and laundered the money via a virtual world called Second Life, which uses virtual currency Linden Dollars, where he then converted those into bitcoin. At the time of arrest, he had obtained 9.9 BTC in total,” Detective Constable Paul.
Pearson didn’t stop there. He even tried to increase the amount the stolen PayPal account could transfer to £50,000 ($70,010), but while waiting for confirmation from the payment processor, the police burst his bubble.
“He primed the account to accept larger sums of cash, but his offending was noticed while he was waiting for confirmation from PayPal that he could increase the transfer limit to £50,000. He was able to request this as he had accessed further private documents that meant he could bypass PayPal’s identification requirements,” Paul .
As said earlier, Pearson was only sentenced to 15 months in prison. Because the rate of cyber fraud has steadily been on the rise in recent times, the author firmly believes that if the jail term for bitcoin-related crime is increased, it could deter from following same paths with Pearson.
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