The Metropolitan Police's eCrime Unit has locked up two Ukranian cyber thieves who led "a systematic and highly sophisticated" 13-man operation that bilked nearly £3,000,000 from hundreds of unwitting victims.
Yuriy Konovalenko and Yevhen Kulibaba admitted to defrauding online bankers with a Trojan virus. The pair infected computers with spyware and gleaned user names, passwords and account numbers. Their cohorts would then effortlessly log in and transfer out funds to dummy accounts.
"These defendants were part of an organized network of computer criminals operating a state-of-the art international online banking fraud, through which they stole many millions of pounds from individuals and businesses in the UK and United States," said Colin Wetherill, detective inspector for the PCeU. "We are working hard to reduce the harm caused by these activities, to put fear into the minds of those contemplating these conspiracies and to bring such offenders to justice."
Kulibaba was the ringleader. Operating out of the Ukraine, he chose which accounts to attack and helped the group create new accounts to dump the ill-gotten cash into. The PCeU called Konovalenko the "right hand man" who directly oversaw criminal activities from the UK. Both men have been sentenced to four years, eight months in prison.
Online banking is more and more becoming a viable option for consumers. However, the scheme underscores inherent problems with how people view their cyber security. It's easy for people to just assume something like this could never happen to them. Actively taking steps to make sure it doesn't is a little tougher.
And that's exactly how cyber criminals like it. (via Naked Security)
