80 Charged in Massive BEC Operation Bust
The US Department of Justice has indicted a whopping 80 people over their alleged participation in a massive cyber fraud operating that stole millions from businesses and individuals via business email compromise (BEC) and romance scams. Most of the defendants are Nigerian nationals that were based in Nigeria, the US
Hackers Stole Over $4 Billion From Crypto Crimes In 2019 So Far, Up From $1.7 Billion In All Of 2018
In the first half of this year, cyber criminals stole around $4.26 billion through cryptocurrency theft, scams, and fraud campaigns, a recent CipherTrace report shows. This indicates a recent surge in criminal activity because the number is far higher than the yearly total for 2018, which was $1.7 billion. The
Unsolicited Blank Emails Could Portend BEC Attacks
If one or more employees in an organization receive an unsolicited blank email, this may mean that the company will soon be targeted in a business email compromise (BEC) scam campaign, Agari researchers warn. The company has been tracking various BEC scam groups and discovered that these threat actors often
WhatsApp Messages Can Be Intercepted, Manipulated
Threat actors could take advantage of severe vulnerabilities in the immensely popular WhatsApp messaging application in order to tamper with message replies and sender identities, or to get victims to share information meant for a private chat in a group conversation, Check Point researchers warn. The issues were first reported
Warning As Sextortion Attack Targets 200M Email Accounts: Are You On The List?
Cybersecurity firm Cofense has released a database containing over 200 million email addresses that are currently “being targeted by a large sextortion scam.” As part of these scams, criminals demand that victims pay them so that they will not release embarrassing information about the recipient, such as a video recorded
BEC Scams Average $301 Million Per Month In Illegal Transfers
New data compiled by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) shows that illegal transactions linked to business email compromise (BEC) scams averaged $301 million per month last year. The figure is based on suspicious activity reports (SARs) received by FinCEN. In 2018, the organization received close to 14,000 filings. The
Group Behind Windows 10 App Malvertising Pushed 100M Ads in 2019
Researchers with Confiant have identified a Hong Kong based advertising firm as the culprit behind a massive malvertising campaign that has already displayed over 100 million adds, including tech support scams, phishing pages and other scams in Windows 10 apps and Microsoft games this year. The activity of the malvertising
Over $800,000 Stolen by Scammers in Atlanta Area City BEC Fraud
Last month, cybercriminals managed to steal over $800,000 from the City of Griffin, Georgia by targeting the city’s finance department with a textbook Business Email Compromise (BEC) scam. The threat actors sent a fraudulent email to a city employee in which they posed as a city vendor and requested the
FBI Releases Warning on Sextortion Scams Targeting Teenagers
Cyber scammers are increasingly targeting teenagers in sextortion campaigns, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned earlier this week. The agency is urging people not to send explicit pictures to strangers and not to be afraid “to ask for help” if they fall victim to a sextortion scam. The
Eurojust and Europol Lift the Blanket off A 24 Million Euro Crypto Hack
A joint operation by Europol, Eurojust and law enforcement agencies from the Netherlands and the UK has uncovered a major cryptocurrency heist. Threat actors stole €24 million (over $27 million) in cryptocurrency from a minimum of 4,000 victims across 12 countries. Six people have been arrested in connection with the