Nowhere is the cat-and-mouse game between attackers and the security of users more evident than with social engineering schemes. Users’ awareness of phishing campaigns, for example, may be improving, but that’s just forcing attackers bent on identity theft and stealing payment card information to up their games.
UK police have arrested 19 cybercrime suspects who allegedly used the
ZeuS crimeware toolkit to capture online banking credentials before
looting victims’ bank accounts. Read the full article. [The Register]
[img_assist|nid=6740|title=|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=100|height=100]A
Long Beach, California man who helped funnel stolen cash to a global network of
hackers and carders was sentenced Thursday to 6 years in prison for
conspiracy to launder money.
Cesar Carranza, 38, sold MSR-206’s to carders to encode stolen bank card
data onto blank cards, and he served as a conduit to transmit stolen
money between mules and carders. Read the full article. [Wired]
[img_assist|nid=6646|title=|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=100|height=100]A recent chat with an individual who was almost tricked into helping organized criminals launder thousands of dollars stolen through e-banking fraud displayed one of the more clever and convincing money mule recruitment Web sites encountered. Read the full article. [KrebsonSecurity]
[img_assist|nid=4427|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=100]Two Belarusian nationals suspected of operating a rent-a-fraudster
service for bank and identity thieves have been arrested overseas,
according to New York authorities, who unsealed an indictment for one of
the suspects. Read the full article. [Wired]
[img_assist|nid=3396|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=100]A New Hampshire-based IT consultancy lost nearly $100,000 this month
after thieves broke into the company’s bank accounts with the help of
10 co-conspirators across the United States. Read the full article. [KrebsonSecruity]
[img_assist|nid=3076|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=100]Hackers broke into computer systems at a Massachusetts chapter of the
United Way last month and attempted to make off with more than $150,000
from one of the nation’s largest charities with the use of a money mule duped by a “Work-at-home” scam. Read the full article. [KrebsonSecurity]
[img_assist|nid=2807|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=100]Even though online job scams have become more convincing as criminals
have honed their skills, sometimes victims don’t fall for them – they
jump into them. Read the full article. [SFGate]
[img_assist|nid=2200|title=|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=100|height=100]An electronics testing firm in Louisiana is suing its bank, Capital One,
alleging that the financial institution was negligent when it failed to
stop hackers from transferring nearly $100,000 out of its account
earlier this year. Read the full article. [Washington Post]
Over on the Washington Post’s SecurityFix blog, Brian Krebs has been doing a phenomenal job highlighting the online bank robberies — using malware — against small businesses in the United States.
The latest installment, which looks at the role of “money mules” in the cybercrime operation is required reading.
