All articles tagged with #international law enforcement
Prosecutors across Asia and the U.S. have seized assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars from Chen Zhi, a Cambodian businessman accused of leading a global cyber-scam syndicate linked to the Prince Holding Group, with investigations revealing extensive illicit financial activities and assets across multiple countries.
A 35-year-old Chinese man, Yunhe Wang, has been arrested for allegedly running the "911 S5" botnet, a massive network of malware-infected computers used for identity theft, child exploitation, and financial fraud, including pandemic relief scams. The botnet, which operated for nearly a decade, compromised 19 million computers worldwide and caused over $5.9 billion in estimated losses. Wang reportedly used his illicit profits to purchase properties across multiple countries.
Ukrainian police have arrested a father-son duo connected to the cybercrime gang Lockbit, following an international law enforcement operation led by the UK's National Crime Agency and the FBI. The duo is accused of carrying out ransomware attacks against enterprises, state institutions, and healthcare institutions in France. The arrests in Ukraine led to the seizure of 200 cryptocurrency accounts and 34 servers used by the gang in multiple countries. The joint operation, dubbed "Operation Cronos," also resulted in the arrest of a Lockbit gang member in Poland and the disruption of the group's core activities.
The US has offered a reward of up to $15 million for information on the leaders of the cybercrime group Lockbit, while police in Ukraine have arrested a father-son duo allegedly involved with the gang. This comes as part of a series of international law enforcement actions against Lockbit, with the US, UK, and EU disrupting the group and using their seized web page to taunt the hackers and provide a tool for victims to decrypt their data for free. Ukraine's police seized cryptocurrency accounts and servers used by the gang in multiple countries, effectively blocking their activities.
An international law enforcement operation led by the UK's National Crime Agency and the FBI has resulted in the arrest and indictment of members of the Lockbit ransomware gang, known for targeting over 2,000 victims worldwide and receiving more than $120 million in ransom payments. The operation, dubbed "Operation Cronos," involved the seizure of Lockbit's infrastructure, the arrest of two gang members, and the freezing of 200 cryptocurrency accounts. The gang's website, previously used to display victim organizations and ransom deadlines, has been transformed by law enforcement agencies to expose internal data about the group and threaten upcoming sanctions and the identity of Lockbit's ringleader.
The notorious cybercrime gang Lockbit, known for holding victims' data for ransom, has been disrupted in a rare international law enforcement operation involving the UK's National Crime Agency, the US FBI, Europol, and other international police agencies. The gang's extortion website was taken over by the UK's NCA, with the operation ongoing and developing. Lockbit and its affiliates have targeted large organizations, making money by stealing sensitive data and threatening to leak it if victims fail to pay an extortionate ransom. The group has been described as the "Walmart of ransomware groups" and has been a top ransomware threat in the US, hitting over 1,700 organizations. The law enforcement action has been described as highly significant, with the gang's control panel replaced by a message from law enforcement, and the site displaying a countdown to more information from the agencies involved.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has seized online infrastructure used to sell the Warzone RAT, a remote access trojan, and arrested two individuals in Malta and Nigeria for their involvement in selling and supporting the malware. The defendants have been charged with unauthorized damage to protected computers, illegal selling and advertising of electronic interception devices, and participating in a conspiracy to commit computer intrusion offenses. The coordinated international effort involved authorities from multiple countries and revealed that the malware was used by cybercriminals to secretly access and steal data from victims' computers.
Interpol, the international police organization with 196 member countries, has been accused of assisting repressive regimes in tracking down political dissidents and innocent individuals through its red notices. While Interpol has successfully coordinated operations leading to the arrest of high-level criminals and the crackdown on human trafficking, it has faced criticism for not adequately vetting the information provided by member countries, leading to wrongful arrests and human rights abuses. Despite concerns, Interpol maintains its role as an information broker and refrains from policing member countries in terms of their human rights agenda, sparking calls for the organization to better police itself to prevent further abuses.
The FBI and international law enforcement agencies have arrested over 100 people in a global crackdown on Genesis Market, an invitation-only cybercrime forum that facilitated large-scale identity theft. The forum offered data stolen from 1.5 million computers around the world containing login details for more than 80 million user accounts. The FBI seized the web domains of Genesis Market and dubbed the takedown as “Operation Cookie Monster.” The crime forum grew out of research that hackers did on anti-fraud technologies used by hundreds of banks and payment systems. This is the latest in a series of international law enforcement stings against cybercrime forums.