F-Secure, the leading enabler for Internet Service Providers and operators to provide security as a service is supporting the work of volunteer activists to expose money laundering web sites run by criminal organizations. Criminals frequently use the Internet to recruit so-called money mules, which enables them to launder stolen funds and money gained from their use of banking-trojans, key-loggers, and phishing.
"We want to support the excellent work carried out by volunteer
crime fighters like Bob at Bobbear.co.uk in exposing these
activities, and help to build a community of volunteers in the
fight against network crime," says Sean Sullivan from the F-Secure
Security Labs.
People looking for jobs on the Internet can be tricked into
becoming part of a money laundering operation in several ways. The
criminals recruit so-called money transfer agents with spam
messages and unsolicited emails, by placing job adverts on real
recruitment sites, and by creating professional web sites that look
perfectly legitimate to the untrained eye. Sometimes the web site
is a spoof where the whole template has been stolen from a
reputable company.
In all cases the purpose of the criminals is to convince the job
hunter that the employment opportunity for a money transfer agent
is made by a genuine, legal company. Typically, money transfer
agents or financial operators are promised a 5-10% commission for
'processing payments' or 'transferring funds' through their
personal bank accounts. After providing their bank details to the
criminals - a major security risk in itself - money mules receive
transfers of stolen money into their bank accounts, which they
withdraw in cash and send to the criminals by using a more
anonymous money transfer service, such as Webmoney, E-Gold or
Western Union (which are legal services as such). Hypothetically,
the transfer agent is forwarding the money to a software developer
in a developing country. In reality they forward the money to
criminals.
The promise of easy money for a few hours of simple work has
lured many unsuspecting people to sign up as money mules. However,
when the police and the banks discover money-laundering schemes, it
is the money mule at the bottom of the crime chain that is often
the first to be caught. The consequences can be serious. People
suspected of receiving and forwarding stolen money may have their
bank accounts frozen while they are investigated. Becoming a money
mule can also ruin a person's credit history and lead to criminal
charges.
Volunteer fraud investigator Bob at Bobbear.co.uk has uncovered
a number of e-mail based job scams on web sites that Internet users
should be aware of. As part of a Web 2.0 -style community approach
to improve security on the Internet, F-Secure challenged interested
volunteer experts to carry out further research on other suspected
money laundering web sites that will help to get them shut down.
The best material sent to Bobbear.co.uk was rewarded with prizes by
F-Secure. The details of the challenge are available at:
http://www.Bobbear.co.uk
http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00001314.html
The criminals, who don’t like the information Bob is providing
to Internet users, have recently targeted his web site in
retaliation. They attacked Bob's reputation by spoofing his domain
name and making it look like he was sending out spam, which
resulted in an investigation by his own Internet service provider
in which they temporarily took his site offline.
"Dedicated volunteers like Bob are really helping to improve
security on the Internet," says Sean Sullivan from the F-Secure
Security Labs. "Collecting evidence that a web site is involved in
a money laundering operation is harder than showing it is spreading
malware or stealing data from people. But if we all contribute to
the research on how people are being deceived by these web sites,
there will be greater awareness of the dangers and less people will
sign up as money mules. It means a safer Internet experience for
everyone in the end."
About F-Secure Corporation
F-Secure Corporation protects consumers and businesses against
computer viruses and other threats from the Internet and mobile
networks. F-Secure’s award-winning solutions are available as a
service subscription through more than 150 Internet service
providers and mobile operator partners around the world, making
F-Secure the global leader in this market. The solutions are also
available as licensed products through thousands of resellers
globally. F-Secure has received the Frost & Sullivan 2007 award
for Distribution Strategy Leadership. The company aspires to be the
most reliable security provider, helping make computer and
smartphone user’s networked lives safe and easy. This is
substantiated by the company’s independently proven ability to
respond faster to new threats than its main competitors. Founded in
1988 and headquartered in Finland, F-Secure has been listed on the
OMX Nordic Exchange Helsinki since 1999. The company has
consistently been one of the fastest growing publicly listed
companies in the industry. The latest news on real-time virus
threat scenarios is available at the F-Secure Data Security Lab
weblog at
http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/ .
For more information, please contact:
F-Secure Corporation
Sean Sullivan, F-Secure Security Labs Helsinki
Tel. +358 40 8479563
Email:
firstname.lastname@f-secure.com
