Why Do Scams And Hacks Ask For Bitcoin?

Weclome to Scams, Hacks and Frauds where we follow true crime scam and hack stories.  This week we ponder "Why do Scams and Hacks ask for bitcoin?".

We explore the dark underbelly of cryptocurrency and how unsuspecting individuals can become entwined in complex fraud schemes. Meet Jian Wren, a resilient woman who, after enduring years of hardship, finds herself caught in a web of deceit involving a criminal mastermind and Bitcoin.

Jian's journey takes us from her struggles as a single mother in the UK to her unexpected role as an assistant to a woman with a hidden agenda. What starts as a seemingly lucrative job quickly spirals into a nightmare as Jian unwittingly becomes involved in money laundering and international scams. We delve into the mechanics of cryptocurrency, explaining how its anonymity can facilitate fraud and the risks it poses to everyday people.

Discover the crucial lessons Jeann learned the hard way about the dangers of cryptocurrency and the importance of vigilance when it comes to financial transactions. Tune in for practical advice on how to protect yourself from similar scams and to understand the red flags that could save you from falling victim to fraud.

We publish new content every other Monday. The  10 minutes our episodes may save your wallet, and help protect your family.

If you like shows like "The Perfect Scam" or "Darknet Diaries" then this show might be for you.  

On our website you’ll find more computer hacking, identity fraud, impersonation, consumer rights and Romance Scams.  To find these and to access our transcripts, visit us at www.scamshacksandfrauds.com.

The transcript and spoken audio are available under the Creative Commons, Share Alike, With Attributions license. For more information on this visit creativecommons.org.  

Transcript

Anytime you read a story about a Scam, a Hack, or a Fraud, Bitcoin or some other form of Crypto is bound to come up.  In this episode, you’ll learn just how you could become part of crypto fraud without even knowing it, what cryptocurrency even is, and how you can keep your family safe from these Scams, Hacks and Frauds.

Remember to subscribe to help keep your family safe.

Its Late Summer 2017, and Jian Wren has been in the UK for 10 years, and its been a struggle.  She initially moved, whilst pregnant, to be with her British Husband in a small town in the North of England, but following violent abuse from her husband, she’s been on her own since 2010.

Struggling hand to mouth, she sent her son to live with family back in China whilst she tries to make it in the UK.  Despite a degree in Economics, she’s been limited to working in Chinese restaurants.  After moving through some other UK towns and Cities, she’s eventually found herself in London, again working in a Takeaway or take-out restaurant.

With restaurant work being very insecure, Jian has learned to always be on the lookout for a new opportunity. Despite her new role, she’s been applying for dozens of jobs within the London Chinese community.  Eventually, she connected with Zhang Yadi.  According to Jian, Zhang was in the International Jewlery business and wanted to open a store in the UK; Zhang needed a translator, housekeeper, and general assistant - someone to help her find new clothes, accomodation and bank accounts in the UK.  Zhang and Jian first met in person in one of London’s five star hotels, so this seemed like a moment you’d only see in the movies, where a person from struggle street is suddenly catapulted into high society.  Who could resist such an opportunity?

Jian got the job, which paid £4k in cash every month - at the time median earnings in the UK were about half of that - and after helping to secure Zhang a 6 bedroom mansion with a monthly rent of £17k, moved in with Zhang.

What Jian didn’t know is that Zhang was actually Qian Zhimin.  Qian Zhimin was wanted by Chinese police and had used Zhang’s identity to secure a saint Kitts and Nevis passport - obtained for a one-time donation to that government of $US150,000. Qian, as we shall now call her, was the mastermind of an investment scam in China, and had transfered her ill gotten gains into Bitcoin.  But Bitcoin is only so useful, and Qian’s english wasn’t great, so Jian would be helping Qian find ways to change the bitcoin into cash and other assets, without making authorities suspicious.

We’ll take a brief break from Jian’s story to talk about Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency.  Bitcoin was the first of these, but there are lots of others that followed.  

Bitcoin’s goal was to be a currency outside of the control of banks.  Traditional money, or Fiat Currency as proponents of Bitcoin refer to it, is usually controlled by governments - they, often through government owned but independently run banks - decide how much money should be printed and regulate transfers of funds between banks.  Suppose you want to transfer money without handing over physical cash. In that case, you need to go to your bank to transfer funds between banks, which adds an extra layer of control - Depending on where you live this could be a near instant process, could take a few hours, or perhaps even days depending on what arrangements are in place to facilitate these transfers. If you want to transfer funds between different countries, this adds another layer of complexity, control and often high fees.

Bitcoin doesn’t have any of this.  Suppose you want to send someone a bitcoin from your electronic wallet. In that case, you send it to them directly; no bank or middleman is required, but the details of your transaction are added to the public ledger of transactions, or blockchain. The blockchain is updated and verified by “miners” who are occasionally rewarded with a brand-new bitcoin for this work.   Other cryptocurrencies work similarly, but the specifics may change.

There are legitimate uses for Bitcoin, some stores and even some governments do accept bitcoin.  In places where bank transfers are slower than others, or international transactions, using bitcoin may be faster and cheaper, however the value of bitcoin isn’t fixed, and it changes a lot; in November 2025  the value of bitcoin changed 10% or more within a single 24 hour period at least three times, meaning you could end up paying a lot more, or less, than you planned.

However, Bitcoin is ubiquitous for scams.  A big part of this is because it bypasses many of the money laundering and fraud checks that banks are required to do by law.  Unlike your bank, Bitcoin doesn’t know who you are, doesn’t care how much you’re transferring, and doesn’t even know who you’re transferring it to.  Although in theory one could track each transaction through blockchain, there are now services called tumblers that mix your bitcoins with other bitcoins - disguising where it came from and where it’s going.  In other words, money laundering.

Bitcoin also makes it easy to circumvent sanctions that prevent one bank from communicating with another.  If you wanted to send money right now from most western nations to Russia, you couldn’t do it, there are international sanctions that prevent that transaction.  Bitcoin doesn’t know about these sanctions, or even whether any party in a transfer is subject to them, so when Russian or North Korean cyberscammers want to get money from their victims, they typically turn to a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.

So, as the mastermind of a Scam in China, who’d fled to the UK on a fake identity, Qian had a lot of bitcoin, and needed something to do with it, and Jian was part of her process.

In 2018, Jian was sent by Qian to at least 10 different countries, there she would buy Jewlery or laptops with Bitcoin, as well as exchange bitcoin for the local currency, sometimes Qian would accompany her but often she travelled alone, trusted by Qian to complete her tasks.  Meanwhile Qian, with Jian’s help was also looking to get onto the property ladder, however Anti-Money Laundering rules were getting in the way of purchases - Qian was finding it difficult to convince local lawyers that the source of her bitcoins were actually legitimate.  The pair were however successful in buying two properties in Dubai.

The British police however were on Qian’s tail.  A large transfer of bitcoin intended for a UK property purchase had gotten their attention, and search warrants were issued in 2018 and 2020.  However by the time of the 2020 search, Qian had fled, leaving Jian holding the metaphorical bag.  Jian returned to restaurant work, but was ultimately arrested, convicted and sentenced for “entering into or becoming concerned in a money laundering arrangement”, but the court did accept that she did not know initally that the source of the bitcoin was criminal, but said she should have been aware of this after being interviewed by police 2019, but despite this she kept working as Qian’s assistant and kept looking for properties for her to buy.  She was sentenced to 6 and a half years in prison, and will be required to serve at least half of that.

In 2024, Qian would also be arrested, and in September 2025 plead guilty to two charges of aquiring and possessing criminal property.  The total haul of siezed bitcoins had a value of around 6.7 billion US dollars.

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So I want to focus on Jian’s jewellery purchases.   It's unlikely that Qian was having her buy these for personal use.  Jewellery is a high-value item that can be easily traded and turned into something else with value - money.   

You might have noticed that if you travel internationally, you’re asked on customs forms if you’re carrying over a certain amount in cash.  Jewellery, however, isn’t money; it's seen as a personal possession, so it rarely gets a second look from customs.  The Jewellery can be easily sold for cash, or even melted down and broken up into precious metals and gems.  This is a pretty clear case where Jian was involved in money laundering.

If you’re ever asked to receive money for someone else, or pass on money, this is the exact same thing, and you might remember we previously covered a case where receiving money from a friend was enough to convict someone of Money Laundering.
If you’re ever asked to pay for something in Bitcoin, or one of the other cryptocurrencies, you should be on high alert.  

Only two countries - El Salvador and the Central African Republic recognise bitcoin as legal tender. If you’re being asked by a government official anywhere else to pay bitcoin, it's almost certainly a scam.

If you’re paying a business, you might be losing out on important consumer protections by paying in Bitcoin.  Often, Credit cards, and sometimes debit cards, have protections against fraudulent purchases and sometimes can compensate you if something goes wrong with what you buy if the seller won’t help you.  Talk to your card issuers about what purchase protection they offer.

We’re not going to say that Bitcoin and crypto are automatically a scam, but whenever you hear those words, make sure you’re on alert.  If you are being encouraged to invest in a cryptocurrency, educate yourself first on what you’re investing in. If you don’t understand it, don’t invest.  Crypto investments, even when legitimate, can be highly volitile and could result in you losing part or even all of your investment.

I’ve been Cee, and this has been Scams, Hacks and Frauds.  Make sure you use the link in the description to tell us if you’ve been scammed, or what type of scams we should cover in the future.