Key Takeaways
- Parks allegedly used fictitious names, corporate affiliations, and email addresses to gain unauthorized access to significant computing processing and storage resources.
- Parks allegedly ran a large-scale illegal “cryptojacking” operation, defrauding two cloud computing providers out of $3.5 million.
United States prosecutors have charged Charles O. Parks III with wire fraud and money laundering. He allegedly ran a large-scale illegal “cryptojacking” operation, defrauding two cloud computing providers out of $3.5 million.
According to prosecutors, the operation mined cryptocurrencies including ether, litecoin, and monero without authorization. If convicted, he faces a combined maximum sentence of 50 years in prison. Parks is scheduled to make his initial appearance in Omaha federal court on April 16, 2024.
Cryptojacking is often defined as a form of malware that hides on your device and steals its computing resources to mine for cryptocurrencies. Between January 2021 and August 2021, Charles O. Parks III, allegedly engaged in a series of deceptive actions according to the indictment filed by the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s Office on April 15, 2024. Parks purportedly created multiple accounts with subsidiaries of well-known cloud computing companies headquartered in Seattle and Redmond, Washington.
Parks allegedly leveraged fictitious names, corporate affiliations, and email addresses, to gain unauthorized access to computing processing and storage resources. Following this, Prosecutors claim that he tricked the providers into granting him elevated privileges and benefits, while evading inquiries about unusual data usage and unpaid subscription balances.
During this period, Parks is accused of using these resources to mine various cryptocurrencies, including ETH, LTC, and XMR. The indictment pointed out that Parks converted and laundered the proceeds through crypto exchanges, traditional bank accounts, and a non-fungible token marketplace.
Furthermore, the indictment alleges that Parks structured various financial transactions to evade federal reporting requirements. Despite mounting unpaid subscription balances and inquiries from providers, Parks purportedly continued his illicit activities, ultimately resulting in his arrest on April 13, 2024, in Nebraska.
Prosecutors further went on to allege that Parks used the proceeds of the crime on “extravagant purchases,” such as Mercedes Benz, jewellery, first-class hotel and travel expenses among others
This is however not the first case of cryptojacking in recent months. Tech giant Microsoft’s report in July 2023 reported that targeted organizations incurred over $300,000 in computing fees due to crypto-jacking attacks.
