Cops in Hong Kong Arrest Bitcoin Power Heist Technicians.
Two men were arrested by the police in Hong Kong for stealing electricity used to mine Bitcoin in disabled care homes, which resulted in huge electricity bills.
Hong Kong police arrested two technicians who were suspected of embezzling electricity from the homes of the disabled.
The two men, aged 32 and 33, were reported to have installed eight Bitcoin mining devices in the suspended ceilings of two care home offices.
According to the South China Morning Post, this illegal activity consumes electricity and results in abnormally high electricity bills for the facilities. The theft increased the monthly electricity bills of the victims to HK$8,000-9,000 (approximately US$1,153).
The mining rigs used the victims to supply their power and internet connection continuously to mine cryptocurrency.
A care home in Sham Shui Po took away five devices, and a facility in Kwun Tong took away three devices.
High-Tech Theft Exposed in Care Home Ceilings
The IT personnel at one of the care homes discovered the situation when they noticed a sudden drop in internet speed. While investigating, they found unlicensed equipment installed above the office ceiling.
Sham Shui Po technology and financial crime squad police began an investigation and found other such devices in another care home at Sau Mau Ping.
The suspects installed the mining machines in August with the help of a facility upgrade as disclosed by Inspector Ng Tsz-wing.
Ng said that during renovation, they had the chance to link mining rigs with the network and electrical system of the facility.
The two men were employees of an engineering company but acted on their own, and there was no indication of a syndicate.
Ng encouraged the population and organizations to carefully track electric bills and verify the activities of the contractors in the course of renovations.
He cautioned that the use of power out of the box or slowdown of the network could be an indication of illegal mining.
When it comes to Hong Kong, the maximum sentence in reference to the theft of electricity is five years in prison under the Hong Kong Theft Ordinance.
The Cost and Crime of Crypto Mining Theft
The process of Bitcoin mining involves using computers that are powerful and that have to operate around the clock, hence consuming large quantities of electricity.
The honorary chairman of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation (Francis Fong Po-kiu) observed that mining is a power-consuming and expensive process, which is the same as air conditioning throughout the day. To reduce this cost, some people can even take the risk of breaking the law.
This incident shows how the issue of illicit electricity theft to power crypto mining is becoming a bigger problem.
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