U.S. Department of Justice Archives

‘Chairmen’ of $100 million scam operation extradited to US

11Aug

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‘Chairmen’ of $100 million scam operation extradited to US

Four Ghanaian nationals were accused by the U.S. Department of Justice for their involvement in a large-scale fraud ring that stole over $100 million through business email compromise attacks and romantic scams. According to the allegations, the defendants were senior members of a significant global fraud ring with its headquarters in Ghana that preyed on American businesses and people from 2016 until May 2023. On August 7, Derrick Van Yeboah ("Van"), Patrick Kwame Asare ("Borgar"), Inusah Ahmed ("Pascal"), and Isaac Oduro Boateng (also called "Kofi Boat") arrived in the United States after being extradited from Ghana. FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia stated on Friday that the defendants have been transported to the United States to face consequences for their...

Hacker ‘NullBulge’ pleads guilty to stealing Disney’s Slack data

2May

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Hacker ‘NullBulge’ pleads guilty to stealing Disney’s Slack data

The identity "NullBulge" was used by a California individual who entered a guilty plea to unlawfully accessing Disney's internal Slack channels and obtaining more than 1.1 gigabytes of company data. The U.S. Department of Justice claims that in early 2024, Ryan Kramer, then 25 years old, developed a harmful program that was advertised on GitHub and other platforms as an AI image generating tool. But according to the DOJ, this program was essentially malware, which gave Kramer access to the user's computer so he could steal passwords and data. Disney employee Matthew Van Andel was among those who downloaded the malware and ran it on his PC, according to the Wall Street Journal read more about Hacker 'NullBulge' pleads guilty to stealing Disney's Slack data. Get up to date on th...

U.K. Hacker Charged in $3.75 Million Insider Trading Scheme Using Hacked Executive Emails

1Oct

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U.K. Hacker Charged in $3.75 Million Insider Trading Scheme Using Hacked Executive Emails

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has charged a 39-year-old U.K. national for perpetrating a hack-to-trade fraud scheme that netted him nearly $3.75 million in illegal profits. Robert Westbrook of London was arrested last week and is expected to be extradited to the U.S. to face charges related to securities fraud, wire fraud, and five counts of computer fraud. According to the court documents, Westbrook is believed to have executed a fraudulent scheme between January 2019 and May 2020 that allowed him to generate millions in profits by gaining unauthorized access to Microsoft 365 accounts belonging to corporate executives read more about U.K. Hacker Charged in $3.75 Million Insider Trading Scheme Using Hacked Executive Emails. Get up to date on the latest cybersecurity news a...

U.S. Seizes 32 Pro-Russian Propaganda Domains in Major Disinformation Crackdown

6Sep

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U.S. Seizes 32 Pro-Russian Propaganda Domains in Major Disinformation Crackdown

As part of a broad range of measures, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) announced on Wednesday the seizure of 32 internet domains used by Doppelganger, a pro-Russian propaganda operation. The Russian Presidential Administration's foreign malign influence campaign, according to the agency, violated both criminal trademark laws and U.S. money laundering regulations. It also accused Social Design Agency (SDA), Structura National Technology (Structura), and ANO Dialog of doing business with the Russian government. It stated that the objective is to subtly disseminate propaganda from the Russian government in order to weaken support for Ukraine from other countries, promote pro-Russian policies and objectives, and sway voters in domestic and international elections, including the US p...

DoJ and FTC Sue TikTok for Violating Children’s Privacy Laws

5Aug

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DoJ and FTC Sue TikTok for Violating Children’s Privacy Laws

TikTok, a well-known video-sharing website, is the target of a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) for "flagrantly violating" the nation's laws protecting children's privacy. The agencies asserted that the business intentionally allowed minors to register for TikTok accounts, watch and distribute brief videos, and send messages to other users and adults on the platform. They further charged it with breaking the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by unlawfully gathering and keeping a wide range of personal information from these kids without informing or getting their parents' permission read more about DoJ and FTC Sue TikTok for Violating Children's Privacy Laws. Get up to date on the latest cybersecurity ne...

Brothers arrested for $25 million theft in Ethereum blockchain attack

16May

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Brothers arrested for $25 million theft in Ethereum blockchain attack

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed an indictment against two brothers for allegedly engaging in a "first-of-its-kind" plan that involved altering the Ethereum network to steal $25 million worth of cryptocurrency in about 12 seconds. On Tuesday, accusations of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and money laundering were brought against Anton Peraire-Bueno and James Pepaire-Bueno, who were taken into custody in Boston and New York. Each of them may spend up to 20 years in jail if found guilty on all counts. The New York City Police Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Cyber Investigations Unit all provided support to the investigation of their case. The brothers are accused of using their elite training and expertis...

US charges Samourai cryptomixer founders for laundering $100 million

25Apr

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US charges Samourai cryptomixer founders for laundering $100 million

The U.S. Department of Justice has charged Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill with laundering over $100 million from different criminal businesses via their nearly ten-year-long bitcoin mixer service, Samourai. Criminals processed approximately $2 billion in illicit funds using Samourai's Whirlpool crypto mixer between 2015 and February 2024, according to information contained in a superseding indictment. Apart from providing services for mixing bitcoin, Samourai also provided a service known as "Ricochet," which enabled users to transfer cryptocurrency by executing extraneous and extra transactions in order to evade law enforcement and cryptocurrency exchanges' attempts to trace cash obtained from illicit activities. The two founders are said to have received fees totali...