Fraud
Musician sent to prison for $10 million streaming fraud using AI bots
A North Carolina musician was sentenced to 18 months in prison for collecting more than $10 million in royalties from Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music in a massive streaming royalty fraud scheme. 54-year-old Michael Smith pleaded guilty in March after being indicted in September 2024 for fraudulently inflating his songs’ listening stats […]
Former US Air Force members sent to prison over BEC attacks
Two former members of the United States Air Force were sentenced to a combined 189 months in federal prison for their roles in a multi-year series of business email compromise (BEC) scams and phishing campaigns. According to court documents, 25-year-old Chijioke Timothy Odimegwu and 26-year-old Harafat Mogaji carried out these attacks while stationed at Dover […]
Vietnamese man charged in $16 million ‘pig butchering’ crypto scam
A Vietnamese national was charged with money laundering for his role in a massive “pig butchering” scam, which defrauded a victim out of $16 million worth of cryptocurrency. 37-year-old Trung Nguyen Van entered the United States through the San Ysidro, California / Mexico pedestrian border entry point on September 22 and was arrested before boarding […]
DoppelCart fraud network uses 119,000 fake shops to steal credit cards
A massive operation dubbed “DoppelCart” uses more than 119,000 domains to run a network of fake e-shops that steal payment card details. Most of the domains are in the .SHOP top-level domain, accounting for 2.72% of all sites on the TLD. German cybersecurity startup Nebty discovered DoppelCart and describes it as the largest publicly documented fake-shop […]
Police arrests dozens of suspects in global cybercrime crackdown
Law enforcement agencies from 22 countries helped identify 263 suspects and arrested 58 individuals linked to cybercrime networks coordinated by African crime groups. The “Operation Jackal IV” international joint action targeted West African criminal networks between November 2025 and June 2026. The operation also focused on disrupting the Black Axe cybercrime syndicate, known for its […]
Ukraine shuts down 94 fraudulent call centers, seize millions in cash
Authorities in Ukraine shut down 94 fraudulent call centers across the country that lured people into investment scams or tried to obtain access to bank accounts. The operation occurred this week, and police officers conducted a total of 411 searches following an investigation that involved the National Police, Ukraine’s Security Service, the Prosecutor General’s Office, […]
US charges two over laundering $43 million from investment fraud
U.S. prosecutors on Thursday charged a New York man and woman for their roles in a large-scale crime ring that laundered money stolen in cyber investment fraud scams. 27-year-old Zhuoying Chen and 38-year-old Haojie Zhang allegedly managed a network of over a dozen people based in Queens and Brooklyn between 2020 and 2022. Chen and […]
Dutch police bust investment fraud ring stealing over €100 million
The Dutch Police announced the arrest of multiple individuals suspected of being part of an international investment fraud scheme estimated to have tens of thousands of victims. The group is believed to have operated 20 call centers, with more than 700 people posing as financial advisers. Authorities estimate that the criminal organization at one point […]
Spanish Police take down €140 million cyber fraud ring, arrest four
The Spanish Police dismantled a cybercrime and money-laundering organization that made €140 million ($160 million) from investment fraud and business email compromise (BEC) attacks. As part of the law enforcement operation, four people were arrested in Spain, Portugal, and Panama. The police describe the operation as an industrial-level scheme as it involved at least 800 […]
UK charges suspects linked to Russian Coms call spoofing platform
UK authorities charged five people following a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation into Russian Coms, a major caller ID spoofing platform used by criminals to make over 1.8 million scam calls. The five people charged are 28-year-old Ayoub Sehailia, 30-year-old Zakkaria Sehailia, 30-year-old Usman Din, 29-year-old Denis Ozmus, and 53-year-old Fadila Salem, 53, all from […]