Online Service Offers Bank Robbers for Hire
An online service boldly advertised in the cyber underground lets miscreants hire accomplices in several major U.S. cities to help empty bank accounts, steal tax refunds and intercept fraudulent purchases of high-dollar merchandise.
The service, advertised on exclusive, Russian-language forums that cater to cybercrooks, claims to have willing and ready foot soldiers for hire in California, Florida, Illinois and New York. These associates are not mere “money mules,” unwitting and inexperienced Americans tricked and cajoled into laundering money after being hired for bogus work-at-home jobs. Rather, as the title of the ad for this service makes clear, the “foreign agents” available through this network are aware that they will be assisting in illegal activity (the ad refers to them as неразводные “nerazvodni” or “not deceived”). Put simply: These are mules that can be counted on not to freak out or disappear with the cash. http://krebsonsecurity.com/wp-conten...ts-600x349.png These complicit “foreign agents” in the U.S. can be hired to launder funds stolen through cyberheists and tax fraud. The rest of the ad reads: Quote:
According to the advertisement, customers of this service get their very own login to a remote panel, where they can interact with the cashout service and monitor the progress of their thievery operations. The service also can be hired to drain bank accounts using counterfeit debit cards obtained through ATM skimmers or hacked point-of-sale devices. The complicit mules will even help cash out refunds from phony state and federal income tax filings — a lucrative form of fraud that, according to the Internal Revenue Service, cost taxpayers $5.2 billion last year. Foreign Agents is one of the more renowned complicit cashout services in the underground, and has been around for at least three years. The following screen shot was taken from an ad for this service that was placed in several parts of the underground back in 2009. The text reads, “Army of professional [knowing] mules in the USA awaiting your exact commands.” http://krebsonsecurity.com/wp-conten...er-600x306.png It’s worth noting that the stereotypical complicit mule traditionally has been a student from Russia or Eastern Europe who is here in the United States on what’s known as a J1 visa, meaning they have the legal right to work for a few months and travel the country for a short time before heading back home. In 2010, the U.S. Justice Department targeted one such network in New York City, charging more than three dozen J1s with knowingly assisting in the theft of funds from organizations that had been victimized by cyber fraud. Most of those charged in that case were either incarcerated or deported, (Click live link for full story), but federal investigators familiar with the crime say there are J1 money mule recruitment networks in nearly every major city in the United States today. END I wasnt sure whether to post this in news or humour :laff:,,,,,,, :pimp: |
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