This is what DeFi hackers google after their crimes

What does a DeFi hacker do after he captures $9 million? Googling how he can get away with it apparently, this shows a current lawsuit in America.

"DeFi hack FBI"

According to documents from a New York court, US authorities have arrested computer technician Shakeeb Ahmed. The charge: he allegedly stole nine million US dollars by misusing a decentralized exchange (DEX). Whatever the documents reveal: The hacker himself seemed overwhelmed by the situation, as evidenced by his Google searches immediately after the hack. Among other things, he wanted to figure out how best to protect his stolen goods and avoid paying taxes for them. He did not seem to have considered this beforehand.

His searches included "how to prevent the government from confiscating assets", "can i use crypto to cross country borders" or simply: "DeFi hack FBI". He also reportedly searched for news about his crime to see if they were already on to him. After using the search engine to get an overview of the possible consequences, he reportedly made an offer to the DEX. He would return the money, except for US$1.5 million, which he wanted to keep for pointing out the security breach.

No mercy in DeFi hacks

The story is reminiscent of the hack of the DeFi platform Mango Markets, where the attacker promised to return stolen funds on the condition that the team would not prosecute him. Yet he did not escape indictment for commodity fraud and manipulation. Ahmed suffered a similar fate. "It doesn't matter if someone steals money from a bank or scams a decentralized crypto exchange. It's all fraud, plain and simple," stated a judge in the record.

At least the computer technician is not a master thief. It is true that Ahmed had used a VPN (Virtual Private Network) during his attack. But he was still apparently unable to cover his tracks. He was no match for the cybercrime division of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, as they explained in a statement.

However, Ahmed's arrest is an isolated case. There are still many hacks in the DeFi sector in which millions of US dollars are lost and few perpetrators are caught. The sad overall balance of the past year: five billion US dollars in damages. Still, crypto crimes are generally declining, as a recent report on crypto crimes shows.