16 arrested for lending bank accounts to hackers.
IT security and control firm Sophos has welcomed news that Dutch
authorities have arrested 14 suspects who allegedly allowed their
ABN Amro bank accounts to be used by cybercriminals to store and
transfer illegal funds.
According to
reports, the fraudsters, based in Russia and Ukraine, set up
bogus ABN Amro websites to lure the bank's customers and harvest
their security details - information which was used to access their
accounts and steal money. Several of these sites were hosted on the
Russian Business Network, an ISP which is notorious for hosting
illegal and dubious businesses, including phishing and malware
distribution sites. The stolen funds were then allegedly placed in
the bank accounts of the 14 ABN Amro customers, and these mules
subsequently transferred the money overseas to Russia and other
countries.
"The Dutch police have sent a strong message to cybercriminals
of all kinds - any participation in this kind of illegal activity
won't be tolerated. While these 14 suspects may not have actually
carried out the phishing attacks themselves, they played a key role
in the crime by allowing the fraudsters to use their bank
accounts," said Mark Harris, global director of SophosLabs™.
"However, in these situations it can be tricky to prove the
deliberate involvement of the account holder as it's quite easy for
them to claim they're simply the victim of identity theft. These
arrests represent an important step in the right direction and
should deter anyone trying to earn a quick buck from engaging in
this type of activity."
Sophos experts note that there is a growing trend among
cybercriminals to try and recruit ordinary people to help them move
their illegal profits around the world. This month, SophosLabs™ detected an unusual 419
email scam which, instead of offering the typical promise of grant,
lottery or prize money, purported to come from the American Red
Cross and offered the recipient a job as a 'donation collector',
accepting and shipping donations to people in need for various EU
projects.
"In the case of this email about the American Red Cross, the
real victims would be those people who glued their eyes on the
compensation salary," continued Harris. "But, as with so many
similar scams, you have to question why people continue to fall for
it - there are very often obvious tell-tale signs that the email is
a fake, and all computer users should learn to exercise a little
common sense and caution when it comes to unsolicited emails."
Sophos recommends companies protect themselves with a consolidated solution which can control network
access and proactively defend against the threats of spam, hackers,
spyware and viruses.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.