FBI announces takedown of phishing operation that targeted thousands of victims

In Brief

The FBI announced connected Monday that it “dismantled” a planetary phishing operation, which allegedly helped hackers people much than 17,000 victims worldwide.

The website of the operation, known arsenic W3LL, displayed a announcement saying it has been seized by the FBI. The bureau said it worked with Indonesia’s constabulary successful the takedown operation, which resulted successful the detention of the alleged W3LL developer — lone identified arsenic G.L. — and the seizure of “key domains.”

Cybercriminals could acquisition the W3LL phishing kit for $500 to deploy fake versions of websites that mimicked the login pages of morganatic services, allowing the criminals to bargain passwords and multi-factor authentication codes from victims. The phishing kit enabled cybercriminals to “attempt much than $20 cardinal successful fraud,” according to the FBI.

The W3LL online marketplace besides allegedly allowed criminals to bargain and merchantability stolen credentials and entree to hacked systems, which “facilitated the merchantability of much than 25,000 compromised accounts,” said the FBI.

The FBI did not instantly respond to a petition for comment, asking to supply much information.

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