#Fraud
All CosmicBytez Labs articles tagged #Fraud, across news, security advisories, how-to guides, and projects.
- News
Ransomware Recovery CEO Indicted After Allegedly Paying Hackers and Pocketing Millions
MonsterCloud owner Zohar Pinhasi is charged with secretly paying ransoms while billing clients over $19 million for fake decryption tech.
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Dual Ukrainian-Russian Citizen Admits to Running 15,000-Mule Laundering Network for Cybercriminals
Oleg Korniev, 42, pleaded guilty to leading Your Mule Cashout, which used 15,000+ U.S. money mules to launder funds stolen from 750+ bank accounts.
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Ransomware Recovery CEO Charged Over Secret Ransom Payments
MonsterCloud's owner allegedly paid hackers for decryption keys, then billed victims up to 18x more while claiming proprietary recovery tech.
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House Passes GUARD Act to Arm Local Police Against Scams
The House passed the bipartisan GUARD Act 414-7, giving local police grant-funded tools to fight pig-butchering and elder fraud.
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Anthropic's September 2026 Report Details AI-Assisted Fraud, Espionage & Influence Ops
Anthropic's latest misuse report names groups stealing AI vendor API keys, running fake reseller scams, and using Claude for state-linked ops.
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UK Account-Hack Losses Surge Fivefold — But New Reporting System Is the Real Story
City of London Police reports a £6.3M jump in UK account-hacking losses, but says most of the rise reflects better reporting, not more attacks.
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Interpol's Jackal IV Disrupts West African Crime Infrastructure
A 22-country INTERPOL operation targeting Black Axe and allied networks led to 58 arrests, 263 identified suspects, and seized criminal assets.
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Police Arrest 58 Suspects in Global Cybercrime Crackdown
Law enforcement from 22 countries identified 263 suspects and arrested 58 individuals linked to cybercrime networks coordinated by African criminal groups.
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Banking Trojans Manic, Grandoreiro, and ToxicPanda 2.0 in the Spotlight
Three active banking trojans — spyware-laden Manic, persistent Grandoreiro, and an expanded ToxicPanda 2.0 — are targeting banks across Latin America,...
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Hackers Arrested Over €30M Bank Fraud Exploiting Service Provider Flaw
Operation Klonen: Brazilian and German authorities arrest 7 suspects behind a €30M bank fraud exploiting a third-party payment processor vulnerability at...
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Ukraine Shuts Down 94 Fraudulent Call Centers, Seizes Millions in Cash
Ukrainian authorities dismantled 94 fraud call centers running investment scams and bank credential theft operations across multiple cities.
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Ukraine Dismantles 94 Fraudulent Call Centers, Seizes $2M and a Kilogram of Gold
Ukraine's National Police and SBU shut down 94 investment fraud call centers across 9 regions, seizing $2M, luxury cars, and 5,200+ SIM cards.
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AI Sends Global Crime Syndicates Into Fraud Nirvana
Organized crime groups worldwide have fully embraced AI as a force multiplier for fraud, enabling operations at a scale and sophistication that INTERPOL...
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Interpol Leverages Global System to Curtail Fraud Payments
Interpol is deploying a global payment interception system to halt fraudulent transactions before cybercriminals can cash out. The initiative coordinates...
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Apple Sued Over Fake App Store Crypto Wallet That Stole $1.8M in Bitcoin
Three plaintiffs have filed suit against Apple in California federal court after a fraudulent Sparrow Wallet impersonator on the App Store harvested their...
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Upbound Group Data Breach Triggers $13M in Fraudulent Acima Lease Losses
Rent-A-Center parent Upbound Group (NASDAQ: UPBD) disclosed in an SEC 8-K filing that a data breach resulted in approximately $13 million in fraudulent...
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Upbound Says Hack Caused $13 Million in Fraudulent Acima Leases
The Upbound Group disclosed that a cybersecurity breach exposed customer data later used by threat actors to open $13 million in fraudulent Acima...
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Dutch Police Bust Investment Fraud Ring Stealing Over €100 Million
Dutch Police have announced the arrest of multiple suspects believed to be part of an international investment fraud ring that stole over €100 million...
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Spanish Police Take Down €140 Million Cyber Fraud Ring, Arrest Four
Spanish National Police, coordinating with Europol, Interpol, Portugal, and Panama, have dismantled a sophisticated cybercriminal organization responsible...
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UK Charges Five Suspects Linked to Russian Coms Call Spoofing Platform
The UK National Crime Agency has charged five suspects following an investigation into Russian Coms, a major criminal caller ID spoofing platform...
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INTERPOL Arrests 5,800 Suspects in Operation First Light 2026 Global Fraud Bust
A 3.5-month INTERPOL-led operation spanning 97 countries resulted in 5,811 arrests, $293 million seized, and 142,000 victims identified — targeting...
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Police Arrest 5,800 Suspects and Seize $293M in Global Anti-Fraud Crackdown
A sweeping international law enforcement operation spanning 97 countries resulted in the arrest of 5,811 suspects and the seizure of $293 million in...
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Felons, Fraudsters Flog Offensive Cybersecurity Startup
Brian Krebs investigates IRIS C2, an offensive cybersecurity startup dangling million-dollar zero-day payouts that is run by Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman —...
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236,000 DCloud Uni-App Sites Powering Crypto Scams and Wallet Drainers
Infoblox researchers have uncovered over 236,000 websites built on the legitimate DCloud Uni-App framework being weaponized for investment scams,...
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Chinese DCloud Uni-App Framework Powers 200,000+ Global Investment Scam Sites
Researchers at Infoblox documented how the legitimate DCloud Uni-App cross-platform development framework has been weaponized to power over 236,000 scam...
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Local Police Collusion Hampers Crackdown on Asian Scam Centers
With tens of billions of dollars flowing into regional economies from cybercrime, scam centers across Southeast Asia continue to flourish despite...
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'Popa' Botnet Linked to Publicly-Traded Israeli Firm
Security researchers have traced the sprawling Popa Android botnet — which enslaved millions of consumer TV boxes for ad fraud and data scraping — to a...
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FTC Warns of Record $3.5 Billion in Losses to Imposter Scams in 2025
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission warned that Americans lost $3.5 billion to imposter scams in 2025 — nearly tripling since 2020 — as AI-powered voice...
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Maine Breach Portal Abused to Publish Fake Data Breach Disclosures
Fraudulent data breach disclosures were submitted to Maine's official breach notification portal and publicly posted before legitimacy could be verified,...
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DoJ Disrupts Southeast Asia Crypto Fraud Networks, Freezes $3.8 Million in Assets
The U.S. Department of Justice's 'Disruption Week' operation has dismantled Southeast Asia-linked crypto fraud networks, freezing $3.8 million in assets and…
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Over 1.4 Million Accounts Disrupted in Cybercrime Crackdown
Law enforcement agencies and major technology companies have jointly dismantled infrastructure tied to Southeast Asia-based scammers, disrupting more than 1.4…
- News
US Charges Google Security Engineer with Polymarket Insider Trading
A Google security engineer was charged with insider trading after winning $1.2 million by placing bets on cryptocurrency-based Polymarket using...
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Former US Execs Plead Guilty to Aiding Tech Support Scammers
Two former executives of a call-tracking and analytics company have pleaded guilty to concealing a years-long tech support fraud scheme that victimized...
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Why Chargebacks Are Just One Piece of the Fraud Puzzle
Fraud losses don't stop at chargebacks. False declines, account takeovers, and promotional abuse also silently erode revenue and customer trust — yet many...
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Apple Blocked Over $11 Billion in App Store Fraud in 6 Years
Apple has revealed it blocked more than $11 billion in fraudulent App Store transactions over the past six years, including $2.2 billion in 2025 alone,...
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Weaponized AI: The New Frontier of Fraud and Identity
Fake identity fraud powered by generative AI is projected to cause $40 billion in losses annually. Security leaders are warned that static defenses are no...
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American Duo Sentenced for Hosting Laptop Farms for North
Two U.S. men have been sentenced for operating laptop farms that helped North Korean IT workers fraudulently obtain employment at nearly 70 American...
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Swiss Police Arrest 10 Suspected Members of Nigeria-Linked
Swiss and German law enforcement arrested 10 suspected members of the Nigerian criminal network Black Axe, including a regional leader believed to oversee...
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Fake CAPTCHA IRSF Scam and 120 Keitaro Campaigns Drive
Researchers at Infoblox and Confiant have uncovered a dual-threat fraud operation active since 2020: fake CAPTCHA pages secretly send up to 50...
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FTC: Americans Lost Over $2.1 Billion to Social Media Scams
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has released data showing staggering losses from social media fraud in 2025, representing a dramatic increase from...
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Over 20,000 Crypto Fraud Victims Identified in International Crackdown
An NCA-led international law enforcement operation has identified more than 20,000 cryptocurrency fraud victims across the UK, US, and Canada, marking one...
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FCC Proposes $4.5 Million Fine for Voice Provider Hosting
The Federal Communications Commission has proposed a $4.5 million fine against Voxbeam Telecommunications for allegedly routing suspicious foreign call...
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Adversaries Exploit Vacant Homes to Intercept Mail in Hybrid Cybercrime
Threat actors are weaponizing vacant properties as drop addresses for mail interception, blending physical access with digital fraud. A Flare threat...