WITH the arrest of a global cyber crime gang’s mastermind in Singapore, Thai police coordinated with the FBI in seizing over a billion baht worth of their assets in Thailand, Naewna newspaper said this afternoon (June 1).
Mr. Mike Chai, FBI attache in Thailand, had asked the Attorney General’s Office to help smash this gang of cyber criminals with Central Investigation Bureau chief Pol. Lt. Gen. Jirabap Bhuridej then taking over the case to investigate and find evidence about Mr. Wang Yunhe, a Chinese national and the mastermind of the global cyber scam, and his Chinese gangsters here.
US officials said this international crackdown was a joint effort by several countries, including Thailand and Singapore, with the cyber criminals having created and spread a malware, known as 911 S5, to hack the IP addresses of 19 million computers over 190 countries worldwide causing enormous damage.
Some US agencies were defrauded after this gang hacked American people’s computers by using this Botnet then surreptitiously asked for various welfare assistance. However once approved, the money was transferred to the criminals’ accounts with the American owners of these computers neither receiving any money nor knowing that they had been used to apply for it.
In addition, the online criminals stole crypto coins, mounted cyber attacks against large organisations with access to their computer network blocked until ransomware was paid. They also sold child porno images and made bomb threats triggering panic among people.
Tens of millions of US dollars were used to buy real estate and other assets in many countries with Thailand being one of them.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Jirabap said among this gang’s assets seized in Thailand were the following:
– 7.5 million baht cash in both Thai and foreign currencies;
– 13 luxury watches worth over 30 million baht;
– 23 pieces of jewellery worth over 50 million baht;
– A Black BMW X7 M50d SUV;
– Land and condominium title deeds and sales contracts;
– The suspects’ bank accounts;
– A flash drive that stored encryption data and passwords.
These items were seized in raids on a house in Bang Lamung district of Chonburi and three condominiums in Na Jomtien subdistrict of this province. Companies set up here by this gang are also being investigated.
CAPTION:
Top: A hacker who looks to have been caught in the act. Photo: Richard Patterson (CC-by-2.0)
Front Page: A cybercriminal. Photo: Richard Patterson http://www.comparitech.co (CC BY 2.0)
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