Thank you very much for posting the topic here, indeed we are not safe anymore but however we must try our best to remain safe.

As an individual, Cyber Security should be your top priority, learn a few Hacking skills cause if you know how they operate then you might be able to stop them from operating on you.

Ransomware operators in Ukraine have been apprehended by Law enforcement agencies. The joint exercise took place on the 28th day of September by officials from the French National Gendarmerie, the Ukrainian National Police, and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), alongside participation from the Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre and the INTERPOL’s Cyber Fusion Centre.

“The criminals would deploy malware and steal sensitive data from these companies, before encrypting their files,” Europol said in a press statement on Monday. “They would then proceed to offer a decryption key in return for a ransom payment of several millions of euros, threatening to leak the stolen data on the dark web should their demands not be met.”

A total of seven properties were raided leading to the seizure of $375,000 in cash and two luxury vehicles as well as freezing of cryptocurrency assets worth $1.3 million.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I20faI87Qgs

According to the Ukrainian National Police, the demands by this suspects were hefty sums ranging from €5 to €70 million as part of their extortion spree, and are also linked to a gang that staged ransomware attacks against more than 100 different companies, causing damages upwards of $150 million.

Virus Software were deployed by breaking into remote working programs, with the intrusion staged through social engineering campaigns that delivered spam messages containing malicious content to corporate email inboxes, the agency added.

Source: https://slytech.org/2021/10/05/ransomware-hackers-responsible-for-attacks-on-over-100-companies-arrested-in-ukraine/

For all online transactions, it is advisable to get a virtual dollar card which you only fund and transact with when the need arises.

An organized crime group that has so far amassed well over €10m from online fraud, drug trafficking and property crimes has been dismantled by the European police. The operation involved the Spanish and Italian national police, with Europol and Eurojust coordinating.

The group itself, which was linked to the Italian mafia, is suspected of defrauding hundreds of victims via phishing attacks, business email compromise (BEC), SIM swapping and other types of online fraud. It is said to have laundered these proceeds through an extensive network of money mules and shell companies.

The group has been linked to the Italian mafia and is suspected of defrauding hundreds of victims via phishing attacks, business email compromise (BEC), SIM swapping and other types of online fraud and laundered the proceeds through an extensive network of money mules and shell companies.

In Italy and the Canary Islands holiday hotspot, Tenerife, 106 arrests were made, 16 houses were searched and hundreds of credit cards, point-of-sale(POS) terminals and electronic devices were seized. Also amongst the discovery was a marijuana plantation which was dismantled.

“This large criminal network was very well organized in a pyramid structure, which included different specialized areas and roles. Comprising of computer experts, who created the phishing domains and carried out the cyber fraud; recruiters and organizers of the money muling; and money laundering experts, including experts in cryptocurrencies,” Europol explained.

“Most of the suspected members are Italian nationals, some of whom have links to mafia organizations. Located in Tenerife, the suspects tricked their victims, mainly Italian nationals, into sending large sums to bank accounts controlled by the criminal network.”

Phishing remains the most common cybercrime reported to the FBI, with more than 240,000 cases logged with the bureau last year. However, it accounted for just $54m in losses in 2021, versus nearly $1.9bn for BEC, which is the most costly crime type.

Identity theft, often the result of SIM swapping and phishing, cost victims over $219m last year.

Source: https://slytech.org/2021/09/30/europol-takes-down-e10m-mafia-fraud-ring