World News | US Sanctions Two Russian Nationals for Phishing Campaign
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. The United States on Wednesday announced sanctions against two Russian nationals for their involvement in sophisticated phishing campaigns in 2017 and 2018 that targeted customers of two US-based, and one foreign-based virtual asset service providers, commonly known as cryptocurrency exchanges.
Washington, Sep 16 (PTI) The United States on Wednesday announced sanctions against two Russian nationals for their involvement in sophisticated phishing campaigns in 2017 and 2018 that targeted customers of two US-based, and one foreign-based virtual asset service providers, commonly known as cryptocurrency exchanges.
American citizens and businesses were among the victims of this malicious cyber-enabled activity, which resulted in combined losses of at least USD 16.8 million, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.
The two individuals sanctioned -- Danil Potekhin and Dmitrii Karasavidi -- are being designated pursuant to the Executive Order which targets malicious cyber-enabled activities, including those related to the significant misappropriation of funds or personal identifiers for private financial gain, he said.
Potekhin and Karasavidi are also the subjects of an indictment unsealed by the Department of Justice on Wednesday.
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“The United States will continue to promote accountability among malign actors seeking to undermine our economic security. Today's coordinated action demonstrates our commitment to deterring cybercrimes, which would otherwise impose great costs on Americans," Pompeo said.
These individuals defrauded American citizens, businesses, and others by deceiving them and stealing virtual currency from their accounts, said Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin.
According to the Treasury, Potekhin created numerous web domains that mimicked those of legitimate virtual currency exchanges.
This tactic, known as spoofing, exploits Internet users' trust in known companies and organisations to fraudulently obtain their personal information.
When unwitting customers accessed Potekhin's spoofed websites and entered their login information, Potekhin and his accomplices stole their login credentials and gained access to their real accounts.
The attackers then employed a variety of methods to ex-filtrate their ill-gotten virtual currency: using exchange accounts created using fictitious or stolen identities; circumventing exchanges' internal controls; swapping into different types of virtual currency; moving virtual currency through multiple intermediary addresses; and a market manipulation scheme in which inexpensive virtual currency was purchased at a fast rate to increase demand and price, then quickly sold for a higher price to glean quick profit.
Karasavidi laundered the proceeds of the attacks into an account in his name.
He attempted to conceal the nature and source of the funds by transferring them in a layered and sophisticated manner through multiple accounts and multiple virtual currency blockchains.
Ultimately, the stolen virtual currency was traced to Karasavidi's account, and millions of dollars in virtual currency and US dollars was seized in a forfeiture action by the United States Secret Service, the Treasury said.
Potekhin and Karasavidi's actions underscore the evolving threat that global financial institutions face from cybercriminals, who employ a variety of sophisticated schemes to profit at their victims' expense, it said.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)