Security News > 2021 > February > Cybercriminal Enterprise ‘Ringleaders’ Stole $55M Via COVID-19 Fraud, Romance Scams
U.S. law enforcement arrested six "Ringleaders" of a Ghana-based cybercriminal enterprise, who had allegedly launched a slew of money-stealing scams dating back to 2013 that included romance scams, business email compromise attacks and fraud.
While the six arrested were allegedly involved with the criminal enterprise based in Ghana, they were located across the U.S. and targeted individuals and businesses in the U.S. Scams Relating to Romance, COVID-19 Relief.
The six also allegedly carried out romance scams targeting older men and women who lived alone.
After the stolen money entered these bank accounts, the six allegedly withdrew and transported those fraudulent proceeds to other members of the cybercriminal enterprise, abroad. "This trade-based money laundering scheme was designed to obscure the origin of the fraud proceeds as well as the identity of the ultimate beneficiaries of these schemes," according to the DoJ. A "Vast majority" of the deposits consisted of large wire transfers or check deposits from various individuals and entities.
This also included payments for vehicles, food products, and other goods sold by the defendants that were purchased using fraud proceeds, according to the DoJ. COVID-19 Fraud and Romance Scams Continue.
Email based attacks - such as romance scams or business email compromise - and fraud scams continue to plague enterprises and individuals.