With cybercrimes associated with virtual currencies are continuously on the rise, it is more critical than ever to have security agencies and financial regulators actively scouting this emerging crypto space.
Although cyber crimes have been around for several decades now, we can all attest to the fact that these criminals take on new skills and methods with time. This makes it inherently essential for law enforcement agencies and other authorities to be on top of their game at all times.
According to a recent report on Bloomberg, the Internal Revenue Criminal Investigation office has been engaged in the successful unraveling of a fresh batch of cybercriminals. While reassuring the general public of its commitment to keep the crypto space – and the online space in general – clean, the IRS apparently has been able to lock down on dozens of new crypto cybercriminals or tax evaders.
The IRS accredited the success to the new tools and the help of tax authorities from other countries. Furthermore, credit was given to the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement, which consists of officials from the U.K., Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, and the U.S.
The office of the IRS Criminal Investigation in Los Angeles disclosed to Bloomberg that the shared tools, insight, data, and tax enforcement strategies have been of immense help. This joint effort has made it very easy to find new leads in a quest to mitigate cross-border money laundering, cybercrime and tax evasion.
Compared to what was achievable last year and even six months ago, it is obvious that in terms of efficiency, the IRS cybercrime unit has gone from zero to hero in no time.
Better Tools to Monitor Crypto
Commenting on the laudable achievements so far, a senior special agent in the IRS’s Criminal Investigation office in Los Angeles, Ryan Korner, asserted that they have successfully developed foolproof strategies and tools to know “who is moving the money and where it’s going.” he also added about the jump in effectiveness, “We have tools in place that we didn’t have six months or a year ago.”
Report gathered showed that the IRS is at the final stage of its new crypto audit system. As a matter of fact, the tax agency already sent out thousands of letters to people who might fall in the deficit side at the end of the day. The IRS also issued new guidelines to crypto holders and investors for easier understanding and reporting of cryptocurrency earnings.
In my opinion, a sophisticated auditing system is a welcome development, as this will eliminate the guesswork or trial and error methods that taxpayers and their advisers are still using today.
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