Google and industry partners have dismantled the XCPE malware botnet consisting of more than 1.3 million Android TV streaming TV boxes that Google says its manufacturer intentionally infected with malware to generate revenue through cybercrime activities. [...]
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Introduction Last week, Google and industry partners dismantled the XCPE backdoor which enrolled more than 1.3 million set-top boxes into a botnet. We assess with high confidence that the backdoor and botnet were intentionally developed, deployed, and operated for financial gain by Videostrong Technology Co., an Android Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and Original Device Manufacturer (ODM). Videostrong monetized the backdoor by selling access to criminal affiliates and loading those…
The FBI and U.S. Secret Service alleged this weekend that North Korean hackers were responsible for stealing more than $6.3 billion from cryptocurrency platform Binance last week.
The FBI has confirmed that North Korean state-sponsored hackers known as TraderTraitor were behind the $6.3 billion crypto-theft attack on Binance, making it the largest cryptocurrency heist on record. [...]
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Russian and North Korean nationals for allegedly laundering the earnings of illicit IT workers on behalf of Pyongyang.
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The FBI seized the domain of a “bulletproof” hosting provider accused of facilitating a range of cybercrimes, including money laundering and the distribution of child sexual abuse material.
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DOJ action against five foreign nationals — plus a sting in Madagascar — highlight the expanding global reach of the scam center industry.
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44-year-old Zheng Zhao was allegedly a key money-launderer working with a group of scammers who called U.S.-based victims and urged them to invest in fictitious businesses.
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A Chinese national was arraigned in California after being extradited from the Netherlands for his alleged involvement in a cryptocurrency investment scam that stole nearly $37 million from 174 victims in the United States. [...]
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More than 1,400 suspected cybercriminals were arrested across Africa this summer as part of a crackdown on the gangs perpetrating online fraud, ransomware and business email compromise attacks, Interpol said.
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A Cash App account opened in her name has left Amanda Smith facing criminal charges and potentially up to six years in prison. 404 Media reports that Smith says someone used her Social Security number (SSN) and date of birth to create an account that received money from a Facebook Marketplace scam. Allegedly, a buyer sent $1,000 for items that weren’t really for sale. A scammer had taken over someone else’s Facebook account and directed the buyer to pay a Cash App account in Smith’s name.…
Law enforcement agencies have disrupted nearly 11,000 cybercriminal networks and arrested more than 1,400 people in Operation Serengeti III, which targeted business email compromise, ransomware, and online scams. [...]
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A Nigerian national who worked with a group to hack tax prep businesses and conduct millions of dollars in fraud using customer data was sentenced this week.
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A Nigerian national was sentenced to eight years in prison for his involvement in a series of spearphishing attacks targeting US tax preparation businesses since 2019. [...]
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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a complaint accusing Digital Forensics Corporation of exploiting people already targeted by sextortionists. We have talked about sextortion and recovery scams in the past, but we never looked specifically at the combination. Apparently, there is a lot of money to be made for those ruthless enough to take money from victims already in a state of panic. The FTC has accused Digital Forensics Corporation, its owner Dmitry Belkin, and affiliated companies…
Russian-speaking Brooklyn residents began tipping off local authorities to a cryptocurrency fraud scheme three years ago, leading to an operation to take down the associated servers and domains.
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The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has disrupted the Famous Chollima threat group's operations by arresting two suspects, charging 14 individuals, and seizing nearly 187 laptops used in North Korean remote IT worker schemes. [...]
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In this article Uncovering the shadow world of a phishing kit ecosystem Storm-3119: YAM Store, the power broker Storm-2990: The Iron Man System phishing kit Downstream activity from Storm-2990 phishing kits Mitigation and protection guidance Microsoft Defender detections Over the past year, Microsoft uncovered a Chinese-language cybercriminal ecosystem, an interconnected network of phishing kit operators, developers, and an illicit marketplace selling tools and infrastructure for large-scale…
The Joint Economic Committee on Tuesday released the results of a year-long investigation into Tinder, Hinge, Match, Plenty of Fish and several other dating sites owned by Match Group.
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More than 40 residences in Texas were the target of a federal operation in September to clamp down on remote worker scams that feed money back to the North Korean regime.
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More than two dozen people were arrested by police in Ghana and Nigeria as part of a U.K.-hosted operation that also included tech companies.
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Oleg Korniev, a 42-year-old dual citizen of Ukraine and Russia, was a principal of Your Mule Cashout, or “YMCO,” which from 2007 until 2014 set up a sophisticated network of mules in the U.S. and Europe.
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A Ukrainian-Russian dual citizen has pleaded guilty to running a massive money laundering operation that laundered millions for cybercriminals worldwide. [...]
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The owner of a ransomware recovery firm was hit with wire fraud charges for allegedly making secret ransom payments while overcharging the victims of attacks.
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A 25-year-old man who helped steal nearly $260,000 in cryptocurrency through a SIM-swapping fraud scheme was sentenced to two and a half years in prison at a London court.
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A Maryland man was found guilty of stealing more than $53 million after hacking the decentralized crypto exchange Uranium Finance twice in April 2021. [...]
The co-creator of Empire Market, one of the largest dark web marketplaces before its shutdown, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for facilitating $430 million in illegal transactions from 2018 to 2020. [...]
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The owner of ransomware remediation company MonsterCloud has been charged with allegedly defrauding ransomware victims by secretly paying their attackers for decryptors while claiming to use proprietary technology to recover encrypted data. [...]
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A North Carolina musician was sentenced to 18 months in prison for collecting more than $10 million in royalties from Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music in a massive streaming royalty fraud scheme. [...]
The U.S. Department of Justice has announced the arrest of the alleged developer of Ploutus malware, used to steal millions of dollars in ATM jackpotting attacks across the United States. [...]
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The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned eight members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) for their role in the theft of millions of dollars in ATM jackpotting attacks across the United States. [...]
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Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) targeted multiple Venezuelan nationals and several companies they control that are part of the effort to launder the money stolen from dozens of ATMs.
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According to court documents, both men pleaded guilty to wire fraud, identity theft and access device fraud charges in June.
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Two former members of the United States Air Force were sentenced to a combined 189 months in federal prison for their roles in a multi-year series of business email compromise (BEC) scams and phishing campaigns. [...]
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A Vietnamese national was charged with money laundering for his role in a massive "pig butchering" scam, which defrauded a victim out of $16 million worth of cryptocurrency. [...]
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A Kosovar national has pleaded guilty to operating Rydox, a large illegal online marketplace that sold stolen personal information, login credentials, credit card details, and cybercrime tools. [...]
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Ardit Kutleshi, 28, was extradited from his home country of Kosovo last year after prosecutors accused him and his older brother of running Rydox — an illicit platform used by cybercriminals to sell stolen personal information, illegal access to devices and other tools for carrying out fraud.
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Available on Telegram for a $1,500 initiation fee and a recurring monthly $500 subscription, EvilTokens provided cybercriminals with artificial intelligence tools enabling them to compromise accounts, analyze breached inboxes and find the best methods for monetizing their access through fraud.
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The Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees from Deception Act (GUARD) attempts to address a common complaint from the victims of online scams like pig butchering — that such cases typically do not rise to the level of a federal investigation but local law enforcement is unequipped to properly investigate them.
Three Ukrainians are set to stand trial for allegedly stealing access to more than 610,000 Roblox accounts and selling them to buyers in Russia, authorities said.
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Ukraine’s parliament has approved tougher criminal penalties for involvement in fraudulent call centers and the theft of personal data, following a corruption scandal in which prosecutors were accused of taking bribes to protect scam operations.
Five alleged leaders of the Black Axe cybercrime syndicate, known for its involvement in global-scale cyber-enabled financial fraud, have been extradited to the United States to face wire fraud and money laundering charges. [...]
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Prosecutors unsealed a 2021 indictment accusing the five men of conducting lucrative romance scams that stole thousands of dollars from more than 100 people.
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The U.S. government also carried out a seizure of $52.8 million from 52 wallets connected to the platform.
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Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Ruslan Kravchenko, resigned this week over allegations that officials in his office took bribes to shield scam call centers from law enforcement.
Malone Lam was indicted on scamming charges in September 2024 after drawing law enforcement scrutiny for parlaying stolen crypto into lavish Hamptons vacations, cars and private jets.
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A Russian web developer who played a role in a multimillion-dollar bank account takeover scheme has been extradited to the U.S. to face an indictment.
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The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.K.'s National Crime Agency and Crown Prosecutor signed a memorandum to cooperate on cases involving Southeast Asian scam operations.
Five Venezuelan nationals pleaded guilty to attempting to empty automated teller machines (ATMs) using malware in a series of ATM jackpotting attacks. [...]
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Federal law enforcement continued to warn about ATM jackpotting gangs as it announced guilty pleas from five Venezuelan nationals.
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Two Nigerian men extradited to the U.S. on Thursday have been charged with involvement in sextortion schemes that resulted in the deaths of two minor victims in Mississippi and North Carolina. [...]
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