Bitcoin is fast becoming a player in the online marketplace. People are starting to make investments in the electronic currency in the hope of cashing in on its wealth-building opportunities. Criminals seeking to scam others out of hard earned cash are also in the mix because Bitcoin’s blockchain technology lends itself to anonymous transactions.
WannaCrypt hacker’s malware ransom scheme
In May, 2017 hackers stole private data in a large malware attack affecting more than 300,000 computers and taking down systems all over the world. In order to receive a code to “decrypt” their scrambled data, users were asked to send ransom money through Bitcoin.