A Hacker Charged For Breaching Organizations To Advertise His Cybersecurity Services
Read also: Major cybercrime crackdown busts over 1,000 suspects across Africa, a pirate streaming service earning over €250 million/month was dismantled, and more.
Thursday, November 28, 2024
A hacker charged for breaching organizations to advertise his cybersecurity services
Nicholas Michael Kloster, a US resident, has been indicted for hacking computer networks to promote his cybersecurity services. The US authorities allege Kloster breached three organizations' systems, including a health club, a nonprofit, and his former employer.
Kloster gained unauthorized access to the gym’s premises and systems, emailed the owner claiming responsibility, and offered cybersecurity services. He also reduced his gym membership fee, deleted his photo from the database, stole a staff member's name tag, and later posted a screenshot of the gym's security cameras on social media.
In another incident, Kloster entered a restricted area, bypassed authentication using a boot disk, and installed a VPN. He also changed account passwords, causing the nonprofit over $5,000 in damages due to remediation and system security upgrades.
The authorities also allege Kloster used stolen credit card details to buy hacking devices intended to exploit vulnerabilities. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison, fines, and restitution to the victims.
An Interpol-led cybercrime crackdown busts over 1K suspects
Operation Serengeti, a joint initiative by Interpol and Afripol, spanned 19 African countries from September 2 to October 31, resulting in the arrest of 1,006 suspects and the dismantling of over 134,000 malicious infrastructures.
As part of the operation, Kenyan police dismantled a credit card fraud operation that caused $8.6 million in losses through banking system vulnerabilities and SWIFT transfers. Nearly two dozen arrests were made. In Senegal, law enforcement arrested eight individuals, including five Chinese nationals allegedly involved in a $6 million Ponzi scheme. Seized evidence included 900 SIM cards and victims’ IDs.
Nigerian police apprehended a suspect running cryptocurrency scams that netted $300,000 by luring victims with fake investment schemes. In Cameroon, a group has been busted that trafficked individuals into a multi-level marketing scam, coercing them to recruit others under false job training promises, earning $150,000. Authorities in Angola dismantled a fraudulent virtual casino targeting Brazilian and Nigerian gamblers, arresting 150 suspects and seizing 200 computers.
Separately, a global law enforcement operation known as ‘Operation HAECHI V’ (July–November 2024), involving 40 countries, has resulted in over 5,500 arrests and the seizure of more than $400 million in virtual and fiat currencies. The five-month initiative targeted seven types of cyber-enabled fraud, including voice phishing, romance scams, and business email compromise. Authorities from South Korea and China dismantled a major voice phishing syndicate that caused $1.1 billion in losses for over 1,900 victims. The group used counterfeit IDs and posed as law enforcement officials.
11 arrested, over €1.6 million seized in a pirate streaming network takedown
Law enforcement authorities from multiple countries, supported by Eurojust and Europol, have shut down one of the largest illegal streaming networks in the world. The coordinated effort involved police agencies from Italy, Croatia, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
The operation, carried out on November 26, involved over 100 searches across the participating countries and targeted 102 suspects. Croatian authorities arrested 11 individuals believed to be key players in the illicit network, which distributed pirated films, series, and more than 2,500 television channels, including premium sports broadcasts.
The illegal service reportedly catered to over 22 million users worldwide, generating estimated monthly profits of more than €250 million. Copyright holders are believed to have suffered economic damages totaling €10 billion due to the operation of the network.
The operators behind the service used encrypted messaging apps for communication and employed fake identities to secure phone numbers, credit cards, server rentals, and television subscriptions. The police seized servers hosting the illegal content, with searches carried out across Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, Croatia, the UK, and China resulting in the confiscation of over €1.6 million in cryptocurrency and €40,000 in cash.
Microsoft seizes 240 domains linked to ONNX phishing service
Microsoft has taken legal action to disrupt a global phishing operation, seizing 240 websites used in attacks and redirecting malicious domains to Microsoft. The phishing kits were used by cybercriminals across the globe to break into accounts of users.
The sites were linked to Abanoub Nady, also known as “MRxC0DER,” an alleged mastermind behind the operation and developer of phishing kits that were sold globally. These kits, operating under the fraudulent ONNX brand, ranked among the top five in phishing email volume during the first half of 2024.
Phishing kits are enabling threat actors to conduct large-scale email campaigns. The ONNX operation implements a subscription-based model, offering several tiers providing varying levels of access and support. The phishing kits are primarily advertised, sold, and configured via Telegram.
In a separate action, Meta has removed 2 million accounts associated with scams, including “pig butchering” schemes. The accounts, largely originating from countries such as Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, are tied to operations exploiting forced labor in scam activities.
Gangs linked to SMS blaster attacks and fraudulent call schemes dismantled in Thailand
Thai authorities have dismantled two Chinese cybercrime organizations involved in large-scale SMS blaster attacks and fraudulent call schemes. One gang orchestrated SMS blaster attacks using mobile equipment mounted in vehicles to target Bangkok residents. Driving through the city’s streets, the group used fake base stations to send hundreds of thousands of malicious SMS messages to nearby phones. These messages aimed to deceive recipients into scams or malware downloads.
Thai cyber police apprehended a Chinese national while he was operating a fake SMS transmitter from a vehicle containing a base station simulator, an 8,000W power station, a WiFi router, and multiple mobile phones. The setup transmitted nearly 1 million fraudulent messages over just three days. The man has been charged with illegal telecommunications operations, and investigations are ongoing to uncover his network and the scheme's mastermind.
Another cybercrime group employed Voice over IP (VoIP) technology to run large-scale fraudulent call campaigns. Using SIP Trunk services, the perpetrators registered over 11,000 fake “02” phone numbers to appear as legitimate businesses. The fake numbers were used to conduct over 730 million scam calls, duping victims into fraudulent investments and scams.
Thai police issued warrants for 24 suspects, including 9 foreigners and 15 Thais. To date, 10 individuals, including 9 Thai nationals and 1 Myanmar citizen, have been arrested. The accused face charges of fraud, money laundering, and acting as money mule account holders.
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Key Dutch has been working in information technology and cybersecurity for over 20 years, starting his first job with Windows 95 and dial-up modems. As the Editor-in-Chief of our Cybercrime Prosecution Weekly blog series, he compiles the most interesting news about police operations against cybercrime, as well as about regulatory actions enforcing data protection and privacy law. 
