In Spain, a couple were arrested for covert cryptocurrency mining in supermarkets

The police in the Spanish city of Tarragona arrested a 33-year-old man and a woman who were installing hidden miners on computers in stores. Local media reported this.

The accomplices, whose names have not been disclosed, infected at least 16 devices in Mediamarkt electronics stores and El Corte Inglés department stores.

According to available information, the woman distracted staff and asked for help to boot a laptop she allegedly bought in their store. Meanwhile, her partner installed the NiceHash miner on showroom laptops and the Anydesk software for remote access to the computers.

The laptops running at full power aroused suspicion among sales consultants. Mediamarkt surveillance cameras captured the accomplices visiting the store three times, and the police were able to identify them from the footage.

During a search of the couple’s home, police found several hard drives, a partially assembled computer, and a smartphone that was allegedly used to remotely control mining software.

The detained have been charged with hacking into computer systems, fraud, and causing damage.

Earlier in March, eyewitnesses reported that the electronics store in Kyiv mined Ethereum on display gaming laptops.

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