What are the risks of renting bank accounts and digital currency exchanges? CEO of Iran Blockchain Association answers

In recent years, it is unlikely that you have visited Persian-language websites, social networks or messengers and online ad posting platforms and come across advertisements or advertisements with titles such as “millions of income with 2 hours of work per day”, “working with a phone and millions of incomes” and other cases. You have not encountered this.

It can be said that behind almost all these seductive ads, some of which are related to digital currencies in some way, there are people and groups who intend to misuse identity information and bank accounts and use people for illegal activities such as money laundering (turning profits from illegal activities into assets). apparently legitimate).

These types of scams are known as “rental account” scams, and unfortunately, they continue to fall victim. During the years that have passed since the formation of this phenomenon, fraud methods have become more diverse and complex; To the extent that domestic digital currency exchanges and their users have been struggling with this issue for a long time.

But with what methods do people and fraud groups attempt to deceive and abuse the personal information and accounts of victims, and what are the consequences for the victim of being caught in such traps?

Abbas Ashtiani, the CEO of Iran Blockchain Association, said in a conversation with Aruzdigital about the origin of the phenomenon of rental accounts:

The people of our country are not living in favorable economic conditions, and the difference between the income level and the average expenditure of households has reached a significant number, and this difference affects a large part of the economic and social interactions of individuals and households.

Ashtiani added:

Recently, we have seen the rise of one of the most traumatic events, which is called a rental account. In this way, people earn money by providing their identity and ownership of their bank accounts, which is more dangerous for them than poison.

The CEO of the Blockchain Association says about the problems that renting out accounts can create for individuals:

The identity of each person in any country is the basis for providing banking services, registering real estate documents and many other things. Each person is responsible for the protection of his identity information and bank accounts and must be responsible for the events that occur in relation to his identity.

Ashtiani continued:

Under anti-money laundering regulations, there are requirements for individuals’ bank accounts. For example, the account of people who have high turnover or number of transactions more than usual will be labeled, and the account owner will be responsible for paying taxes or answering about the source of the money entered into his account.

He added:

Unfortunately, there are profit-seeking people who are currently abusing the identity of people and the responsibility of financial circulation, volume, with seductive advertisements and announcing the possibility of making money to people in various ways, such as renting out accounts, creating user accounts in cryptocurrency exchanges and many other businesses. The money or even the source of the money, which can be from the place of crime and illegal activity, is blamed on the victim. In the name of these people, they register in various online or even offline businesses, they misuse the identity information or bank account of these people, and by depositing money of unknown and dirty origin into their account, they prepare goods or digital assets, and in the end, they run away. .

Ashtiani said about the consequences of misuse of rental accounts for the victims:

The only thing left in the end is the person who owned the account and now faces the heavy responsibilities of giving their account to someone else. The result of these events is that the FATA police identify the trace of the money and reach the place where that money has been converted into goods or assets, and finally hold the buyer responsible for the purchase of those goods or goods that were made with unhealthy money. The legal and judicial responsibility to answer for this money, which can be the origin of crime, theft or anything else, is with the account holder. Unfortunately, both the person renting the account and the businesses that delivered the goods are involved.

The CEO of the Blockchain Association says about how regulatory agencies deal with this form of fraud:

Until now, regulatory agencies have taken measures to prevent advertising in this field, but unfortunately, the trick of advertising and trying to seduce people is done in another guise. In such a way that a person may go to one of the online advertisement sites and see ads with the title “earning money from cryptocurrency” and after entering, gradually and through a process, they will encourage the person to provide their identity information. put We have weaknesses in this area from a regulatory perspective, but unfortunately abusers are always one step ahead.

Ashtiani said about the volume of cases related to rental accounts:

Currently, there are many serious cases in this field, and our courts in the field of economic crimes are filled with people who are facing heavy bails of 20 or 30 billion tomans, while they may not have any history of financial transactions in these dimensions and are greedy to receive Significant amounts have been rented out for one or more months.

Ashtiani emphasized at the end:

People should keep in mind that renting out their account [و کسب درآمد از آن] It never lasts long and free cheese is only found in the mousetrap. People should protect their most important asset, that is, their identity, and should never give their identity or bank account information to another person, because it will definitely be misused. Any promise of high profits where they encourage a person to give away their bank account may seem attractive at first, but there are very heavy legal and judicial consequences for them and I strongly recommend that they never do this.