Four Individuals Charged in $63 Million Mail Theft Conspiracy, Including Two Postal Employees
Jaiswan Williams, 31, Dequan Foreman, 30, Vanessa Hargrove, 39, and Crystal Jenkins, 31, were charged with conspiracy to aid and abet bank and wire fraud. Hargrove and Jenkins were United States Postal Service employees who diverted and ultimately stole checks and other negotiable instruments from the mail, including a high volume of tax refund checks issued by the U.S. Treasury. Williams and Foreman were the administrators of the online marketplaces used to sell the checks.
Continue ReadingNotorious Refund Fraud Operator "REKK" Arrested in Lithuania
With the cooperation of Amazon and others, the suspected ringleader (and at least one accomplice) of notorious online refund fraud channel "Rekk Refunds" has been detained in Lithuania. The NCFTA has reported on Rekk's impact to numerous Members since the Fall of 2023 and supported Lithuanian law enforcement during the 2024 "ITF".
Continue ReadingCalifornia Conspirators Funneled $59m in Unemployment Compensation Benefits to China
Defendants and others entered into a series of agreements to make it appear as if they were operating legitimate businesses selling masks and other COVID19 personal protective equipment. In reality, the funds that the defendants obtained and laundered through their companies were derived from fraudulently obtained state unemployment compensation (“UC”) benefits. According to the indictment, unnamed members of the conspiracy, including some believed to be located in China, established thousands of accounts at banks across the United States using the personal identifying information (“PII”) of identity theft victims. From there, fraudulent UC claims were generated and paid to these accounts.
Continue ReadingNew York State's First-Ever Missing Child Rescue Operation Results in Successful Location of 47 Children Reported Missing in Erie County
The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) today announced that 47 children who were reported missing in Erie County have been located through a first-of-its-kind Missing Child Rescue Operation in the state.
Continue ReadingHow the FBI and Mandiant caught a ‘serial hacker’ who tried to fake his own death
Jesse Kipf was a prolific hacker who sold access to systems he hacked, had contacts with a notorious cybercrime gang, and tried to use his hacking skills to get off the grid for good.
Continue ReadingTwo Russian Nationals Charged in Connection with Operating Billion Dollar Money Laundering Services
Justice Department Seizes Web Domains for Multiple Illicit Crypto Exchanges
Continue ReadingSENTENCED! : Kentucky Man Who Faked His Own Death Sentenced to 81 Months for Cyber Intrusion and Aggravated Identity Theft
UPDATE: On August 19, 2024, Jesse Kipf, 39, was sentenced to 81 months for computer fraud and aggravated identity theft. Kipf plead guilty to hacking into state death registry systems and private business, and selling access to networks on the dark web. Previously, in November 2023, Kipf, was indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in London, Kentucky on five counts of computer fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft, and two counts of making false statements on applications in connection with federally insured financial institutions.
Continue ReadingNigerian Man Arrested in Alleged $10 Million Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Fraud Scheme
BOSTON – A Nigerian man was arrested on Aug. 13, 2024 upon arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City on charges that he, and others, conspired to fraudulently obtain at least $10 million in COVID-19 unemployment benefits.
Continue ReadingRussian National Sentenced to 40 Months for Selling 297,000+ Stolen Credentials
Georgy Kavzharadze, 27, of Moscow, Russia was a prolific stolen credential vendor on the since disrupted criminal internet marketplace Slilpp. He was charged in August 2021 and subsequently extradited to the U.S. On August 14, 2024, Kavzharadze was sentenced to 40 months in prison and ordered to pay $1,233,521.47 in restitution.
Continue ReadingBelarusian-Ukrainian Cybercriminal known as "J.P. Morgan" faces decades in prison after being extradited from Poland.
Following an extensive international law enforcement investigation, Maksim Silnikau, aka "J.P. Morgan" was extradited to the U.S. from Poland. Silnikau is believed to be one of the world's most prolific Russian-speaking cybercrime actors and the founder of ransomware-as-a-service group Reveton. The U.K. National Crime Agency (NCA), FBI, Secret Service, Guardia Civil of Spain, Security Service of Ukraine Cyber Department and many other law enforcement agencies coordinated on the investigation.
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