Four U.S. Nationals Charged in $80 Million Pig Butchering Crypto Scam

Four U.S. nationals have been charged for participating in an illicit scheme that earned them more than $80 million via cryptocurrency investment scams. The defendants – Lu Zhang, 36, of Alhambra, California; Justin Walker, 31, of Cypress, California; Joseph Wong, 32, Rosemead, California; and...

"An influx of Elons," a hospital visit, and magic men: Becky Holmes shares more romance scams: Lock and Code S04E18

Becky Holmes is a big deal online. Hugh Jackman has invited her to dinner. Prince William has told her she has "such a beautiful name." Once, Ricky Gervais simply needed her photos "I want you to take a snap of yourself and then send it to me on here...Send it to me on here!" he messaged on...

FBI Alert: Crypto Scammers are Masquerading as NFT Developers

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI is warning about cyber crooks masquerading as legitimate non-fungible token NFT developers to steal cryptocurrency and other digital assets from unsuspecting users. In these fraudulent schemes, criminals either obtain direct access to NFT developer...

"Brad Pitt," a still body, ketchup, and a knife, or the best trick ever played on a romance scammer, with Becky Holmes: Lock and Code S04E06

Becky Holmes knows how to throw a romance scammer off script--simply bring up cannibalism. In January, Holmes shared on Twitter that an account with the name "Thomas Smith" had started up a random chat with her that sounded an awful lot like the beginning stages of a romance scam. But rather than...

Transparent Tribe Hackers Distribute CapraRAT via Trojanized Messaging Apps

A suspected Pakistan-aligned advanced persistent threat APT group known as Transparent Tribe has been linked to an ongoing cyber espionage campaign targeting Indian and Pakistani Android users with a backdoor called CapraRAT. "Transparent Tribe distributed the Android CapraRAT backdoor via...

Interpol Seized $130 Million from Cybercriminals in Global "HAECHI-III" Crackdown Operation

Interpol on Thursday announced the seizure of $130 million worth of virtual assets in connection with a global crackdown on cyber-enabled financial crimes and money laundering. The international police operation, dubbed HAECHI-III, transpired between June 28 and November 23, 2022, resulting in th...

A week in security (October 3 – 9)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Romance scammer deepfakes Mark Ruffalo to con elderly artist Actively exploited vulnerability in Bitbucket Server and Data Center Ransomware-affected school district refuses to pay, gets stolen data released Ransomware review: September 2022 Huge increase in smishi...

Romance scammer given 25 years of alone time

Romance scams are often low risk, high reward strategies for ciminals, who use them to steal large sums of money from vulnerable people in the cruellest ways possible. Once the victim wires the cash, theres a good chance that its never coming back. The perpetrator has almost certainly covered the...

BEC Scammer Gets 25-Year Jail Sentence for Stealing Over $9.5 Million

A 46-year-old man in the U.S. has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after being found guilty of laundering over $9.5 million accrued by carrying out cyber-enabled financial fraud. Elvis Eghosa Ogiekpolor of Norcross, Georgia, operated a money laundering network that opened at least 50 business...

Romance scammer deepfakes Mark Ruffalo to con elderly artist

Deepfakes have settled into a groove, as most scam techniques do. It seems most deepfakers have decided to make as much cash as possible from unsuspecting victims instead of doing anything particularly earth-shattering with their technology. One curious twist we may not have seen coming is the...

Massive Losses Define Epidemic of ‘Pig Butchering’

U.S. state and federal investigators are being inundated with reports from people whove lost hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in connection with a complex investment scam known as "pig butchering," wherein people are lured by flirtatious strangers online into investing in cryptocurren...

5 ways to avoid being catfished

Today, many Americans will head out to the water—not to swim, but to catch a catfish in time for National Catfish Day. But when we talk about catfishing in cybersecurity, we mean something different. Here, catfishing refers to someone who assumes someone elses identity online in order to harass,...

Internet Safety Month: Avoiding the consequences of unsafe Internet practices

Welcome to Internet Safety Month, a once-a-year event in which you, the public, are told that anywhere between three and 30 different best practices will simplify your approach to staying safe online. Unfortunately, much of the well-intentioned advice surrounding Internet Safety Month ignores one...

A week in security (May 9 – 15)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: How to spot the signs of a virtual kidnap scam Virtual credit cards coming to Chrome: What you need to know Clearview AI banned from selling facial recognition data in the US Cyberattacks on SATCOM networks attributed to Russian threat actors F5 BIG-IP vulnerabilit...

Recovering from romance scams with Cindy Liebes: Lock and Code S03E10

Earlier this year, many members of the public were introduced to the facets of a long-ignored crime in cyberspace: The romance scam. A flashy documentary called The Tinder Swindler had premiered on Netflix, and in it, filmmakers documented the efforts of one man to manipulate several women into...

‘CryptoRom’ Crypto Scam is Back via Side-Loaded Apps

For about a year now, crypto-traders and lovelorn singles alike have been losing their money to CryptoRom, a malware campaign that combines catfishing with crypto-scamming. According to research from Sophos, CryptoRom’s perpetrators have now improved their techniques. They’re leveraging new iOS...

Extortion scheme impersonates government officials, law enforcement

The FBI issued a public warning this week about a fraud scheme wherein scammers impersonate government officials and law enforcement personnel. According to the PSA, the scammers spoof legitimate numbers and names and use fake credentials of well-known members of the government and law enforcemen...

When fake dating profiles try the military approach

I’ve run into many romance scams over the years. You’ll find them lurking on social media, instant messaging, chatrooms/forums, and many more besides. They’re particularly popular during times of war or natural disaster, as they often dovetail into donation and charity scams. The icing on the cak...

How to avoid being scammed this Valentine’s Day

With Valentines Day approaching, you can be sure that the scammers will want to take advantage of lovebirds everywhere. From romance scams and sextortion, to fake dating sites and phishing campaigns, heres how to avoid a sting in the tail this Valentines Day. Romance scams Stories of online roman...

Romance, BEC Scams Lands Soldier in Jail for 46 Months

A former Army reservist was just sentenced to 46 months in prison and ordered to pay nearly $2 million in penalties and restitution, after pleading guilty to scamming dozens of people online, including the elderly and a veteran’s organization for Marines. Joseph Iorhemba Asan Jr. along with his...