The abductions were carried out using a viral program.
Kiev. Ukraine. Ukraine Gate – March 16, 2021 – Entrepreneurs
Employees of the NPU Cyber Police Department exposed a group of fraudsters who sent malicious software to the email addresses of entrepreneurs.
As a result, the attackers stole more than 5 million hryvnias from businessmen, according to the press service of the cyber police on the agency’s website.
“The defendants sent letters with malicious software to the e-mail addresses of companies and entrepreneurs. The message was disguised as archives with documents in which there were demands to pay for certain services or provide information to government agencies,” the message says.
Virus programs provided remote access to the computers of accountants and directors. The cybercriminals created payment orders on behalf of legal entities and individuals to their accounts.
“According to preliminary estimates, the victims suffered more than UAH 5 million in losses,” the department said.
Eight searches were carried out on the territory of Kiev and the Kiev region, during which they seized computer equipment, mobile phones, bank cards, flash drives, and “draft” records.
Criminal proceedings have been opened under Part 3 of Art. 185 (Theft), part 2 of Art. 361 (Unauthorized interference with the operation of computers, automated systems, computer networks, or telecommunication networks) Part 3 of Art. 190 (Fraud) Criminal Code.
The defendants can face up to eight years in prison. Investigative actions continue.
Earlier it was reported that with the help of virus software hackers interfered with the servers of private and government institutions in Europe and the United States. Their activities caused $ 2.5 billion in losses to foreign banks. The attackers face up to twelve years in prison, according to the National Police Department of Communication.
“As part of the international special operation of the Cyber Police Department, together with the Main Investigation Department of the National Police, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, with the involvement of colleagues from law enforcement agencies in Germany, the United States, Great Britain, and the Netherlands, the activities of a transnational hacker criminal group for the distribution of dangerous and persistent viral software were exposed and blocked. – “EMOTET” “- said in the message.
The EMOTET infrastructure included servers located all over the world and was actually a BOT network. The “virus” was spread through spam mailings and Word documents, Excel, etc. The emails looked like a warning about account security, an invitation to a party, and even a warning against the spread of COVID-19.
Also, the cyber police warn Ukrainians that scammers have become more active on the Internet, who lure money from citizens under the guise of providing state compensation payments of 8 thousand hryvnias.
According to the press service of the department, since the beginning of December, about 100 complaints have been received from victims of such schemes.
Usually, offenders post a video where the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy talks about payments of material aid to entrepreneurs in the amount of UAH 8,000.
In the description of the video, the scammers’ post links to a resource where it is allegedly possible to apply for a payment, claiming that everyone can receive such material assistance. On the page following the link, citizens are asked to enter their personal data and bank card number for crediting money. Further, the fraudsters ask to pay for the services of a lawyer for filling out an application, obtaining an electronic signature, passing identification, and the like. Basically, they use the built-in chatbot for this.
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Source: Ukrgate
