Up to £1million stolen in Scotland’s first cryptojacking will probably never be recovered, detectives have admitted. Police Scotland last week secured a conviction for reset against Lanarkshire man John Ross Rennie after a violent robbery three years ago. As much as £1m of Bitcoin – a type of online currency – was stolen during the raid of a home in Blantyre and transferred to Rennie’s account. Two men and a woman were attacked by three masked intruders who demanded one of the victims, who can’t be named for legal reasons, transfer the virtual currency. The thugs then battered the woman over the head with a personalised Toblerone. The Sunday Mail can reveal that one of the victims is alleged to be involved in an online fraud himself and is currently facing court action. Months after the incident police were able to link the stolen currency to 29-year-old delivery driver Rennie but by the time they accessed his accounts the funds had already been moved out. Rennie claimed he was not involved in the robbery and officers have never been able to find the three men who committed the attack. Detective Inspector Craig Potter said: “This case is the first movement of funds has been proven in court. “We followed a long trail where we got to an account and then had to make international inquiries that led us to Rennie. “Once we had built up enough of a picture of what happened we were able to get search warrants. “When we got his mobile phone we found cryptocurrency wallet software which showed he was the direct recipient of the cryptocurrency. “We’ve had criminal seizures of cryptocurrency in Scotland before – one was seized abroad and in the other case officers went into the house and got the hardware and we could get into that to seize the cryptocurrency. “It relies on the funds being there and being able to access them. In this case by the time we got to Mr Rennie the funds were long gone, they’d been moved out.” DI Potter said that cryptocurrency is increasingly being used by criminals and the force is constantly adapting to try and keep up with the technology. He said: “It’s an evolving technology. There’s lots of cryptocurrency investment frauds, I’m aware of a puppy sale fraud where someone paid for a puppy in cryptocurrency, but when they arrived to pick it up it wasn’t there. “Drugs gangs are getting money in cash, changing it into cryptocurrency and using cryptocurrencies as a money laundering mechanism.” DI Potter said that members of the public who have cryptocurrency should be aware that they could become targets. He said: “Anywhere where people are building up significant wealth is going to be a target for the criminal fraternity. “This is the first case of crypojacking in Scotland, Me and my team were aware that there were a few cases in America where this had happened and it was on the horizon and it would potentially be coming to the UK.” He advised people who have cryuptocurrency to not boast about it online and make sure they separate their funds in to different accounts so it would be more difficult to steal if they were targeted. Rennie is due to be sentenced at a later date. Don’t miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond – sign up to our daily newsletter here.
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