Beijing Court Discloses “Doxxing” Case Involving Virtual Currency: Principal Offender Sentenced to 7 Years for Illegally Obtaining Over 900 Million Personal Records

The WeChat official account of the Haidian District People’s Court of Beijing Municipality disclosed a case involving “doxxing” using virtual currencies. Between 2023 and 2025, the defendant illegally obtained personal information of Chinese citizens via encrypted communication tools and other channels—acquiring over 900 million pieces of personal data in total—and built a “social engineering database” website storing over 170 million pieces of citizens’ personal information. The defendant also profited by selling such information, receiving payments exclusively in virtual currencies. Additionally, the defendant used encrypted communication tools to establish “doxxing” and “outing” chat groups for disseminating illegal content, including privacy violations. The court convicted the principal offender, Lin某某, of the crimes of infringing upon citizens’ personal information and illegally utilizing information networks, sentencing him to seven years’ imprisonment and imposing a fine of RMB 70,000.