Charles O. Parks III, 45, allegedly stole $3.5 million in cloud computing services to mine $1 million in ether, litecoin, monero and other cryptocurrencies in a purported "cryptojacking" scheme, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Parks purportedly used numerous aliases such as “MultiMillionaire LLC” and “CP3O LLC” to register obtain “massive amounts” of computing processing power without paying for it, the government release continues. He also allegedly elevated levels of cloud computing services, deferred billing accommodations and avoided questions from the cloud computing firms about large data usage and unpaid subscriptions.
"Charles Parks, also known as CP3O, allegedly created a cryptojacking scheme to defraud prominent cloud service providers of millions and illegally mine approximately $1 million in cryptocurrency for personal use," said Federal Bureau of Investigation Assistant Director-in-Charge Smith in a release. "Criminals are becoming more adept at manipulating digital tools and hiding behind advanced technology, which often causes significant financial damage to their victims.