US sanctions 3 Chinese nationals, 3 Thai entities over Covid related cyber fraud

Three Chinese nationals and three Thailand based entities have been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department for being associated with a malicious botnet that enabled users to commit cyber fraud including bomb threats and apply for COVID aid, which resulted in loss of billions of dollars of the US government. According to the Treasury Department, the 911 S5 botnet service compromised approximately 19 million IP addresses and facilitated the submission of tens of thousands of fraudulent applications related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act programs by its users. The botnet enabled users to commit widespread cyber-enabled fraud using compromised victim computers that were associated to residential IP addresses. The IP addresses compromised by the 911 S5 service were also linked to a series of bomb threats made throughout the United States in July 2022. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Defence Criminal Investigative Service, US Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement, as well as partners in Singapore and Thailand joined forces to sanction the individuals and entities. The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on May 28 designated three individuals, Yunhe Wang, Jingping Liu, and Yanni Zheng, for their activities associated with the malicious botnet tied to the residential proxy service known as 911 S5. OFAC also sanctioned three entities—Spicy Code Company Limited, Tulip Biz Pattaya Group Company Limited, and Lily Suites Company Limited—for being owned or controlled by Yunhe Wang. “These individuals leveraged their malicious botnet technology to compromise personal devices, enabling cybercriminals to fraudulently secure economic assistance intended for those in need and to terrorize US citizens with bomb threats,” said Under Secretary Brian E Nelson. (ANI)

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