Interpol dismantles sextortion ring, warns of increased attacks

guest · Sep 6, 2022

By Sergiu Gatlan - September 5, 2022

A transnational sextortion ring was uncovered and dismantled following a joint investigation between Interpol's cybercrime division and police in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Interpol says that 12 suspects believed to be core members of this criminal organization were arrested in July and August after investigators found that they asked potential victims via online sex and dating platforms to download a malicious mobile app to engage in "naked chats."
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However, their targets didn't know this app was designed to steal the contents of their phones' contact lists which the cybercriminals would use to blackmail the victims, threatening to share their nude videos with relatives and friends in their address books.

"We conducted a proactive investigation and in-depth analysis of a zombie command and control server hosting the malicious application, which – along with the joint efforts by our counterparts – allowed us to identify and locate individuals linked to the criminal syndicate," said Raymond Lam Cheuk Ho, the head of Hong Kong Police's Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau.
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Sextortion is a type of digital extortion where the criminals coerce or trick their targets into sharing explicit videos or images that will later be used for blackmail.
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Spike in sextortion attacks
Today's announcement comes after Interpol launched an awareness campaign in June to warn Internet users of a striking increase in digital extortion threats like sextortion, ransomware, and Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks.

"A sharp rise in sextortion reports has been observed around the world in recent years, mirroring a rise in other types of cybercrime that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic," Interpol said.
"INTERPOL's awareness campaigns on cyber threats have emphasized that just one click – on an unverified link or to send an intimate photo or video to someone – can suffice to fall victim to cybercrime."
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The FBI warned one year ago of a massive increase in sextortion complaints since the start of 2021, which resulted in total financial losses of more than $8 million until the end of July 2021.
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Interpol: Asia: Sextortion ring dismantled by police

A joint investigation supported by INTERPOL has so far linked the syndicate to 34 cases, with 12 arrests.
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Interpol dismantles sextortion ring, warns of increased attacks

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Interpol dismantles sextortion ring, warns of increased attacks

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