More Chinese cybercrime operations have been engaging in "ghost-tapping" or the inclusion of pilfered payment card details on burner devices then used for in-person purchases to enable the laundering of illicit proceeds from scam operations across Southeast Asia, reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
Mobile devices relayed with payment card information obtained through social engineering, phishing, and malware attacks are then offered on Telegram channels associated with the recently closed down cybercriminal marketplace Huione Guarantee, a report from Recorded Future's Insikt Group showed. Huione alternatives Xinbi Guarantee and Tudou Guarantee have also been used to peddle ghost-tapping services, researchers found. Such findings come after last year's surge in scam operations was pinned by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on the comprehensive money laundering and technology services in the cybercriminal ecosystem. "The convergence between the acceleration and professionalization of these operations on the one hand and their geographical expansion into new parts of the region and beyond on the other translates into a new intensity in the industry one that governments need to be prepared to respond to," said UNODC's Benedikt Hofmann.
Mobile devices relayed with payment card information obtained through social engineering, phishing, and malware attacks are then offered on Telegram channels associated with the recently closed down cybercriminal marketplace Huione Guarantee, a report from Recorded Future's Insikt Group showed. Huione alternatives Xinbi Guarantee and Tudou Guarantee have also been used to peddle ghost-tapping services, researchers found. Such findings come after last year's surge in scam operations was pinned by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on the comprehensive money laundering and technology services in the cybercriminal ecosystem. "The convergence between the acceleration and professionalization of these operations on the one hand and their geographical expansion into new parts of the region and beyond on the other translates into a new intensity in the industry one that governments need to be prepared to respond to," said UNODC's Benedikt Hofmann.
