The FBI warns the public about criminals targeting US stock investors through social media platforms and messaging service applications (apps). The scheme, known as a “ramp-and-dump” stock manipulation, targets US investors through online engagement, often via social media advertisements or messages promoting an “investment club” of fellow investors, some of which may be bots or fake accounts.
These promotions typically direct victims to secure messaging apps where the group operates. To appear credible, perpetrators may impersonate legitimate brokerage firms or well-known stock analysts. They secretly control a large volume of a low-priced stock and coordinate efforts to inflate its price (“ramp up”) by encouraging investment club members to purchase shares over a period of several weeks or months. Once the price is artificially elevated, the criminals sell off (“dump”) their shares at a profit, leaving unsuspecting investors with significant losses as the stock value collapses.
Read more…
Source: U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Cyber Division
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox.
Related:
- Brit hacker admits he siphoned info from US military satellite network
June 16, 2017
A UK-based computer hacker has admitted stealing hundreds of usernames and email addresses from a US military communications system. Sean Caffrey, 25, of Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands, broke in and pinched the ranks, usernames and email addresses of more than 800 users of a satellite communications system and of about 30,000 satellite phones, back ...
- US Warns of ‘DeltaCharlie’ – A North Korean DDoS Botnet Malware
June 14, 2017
The United States government has released a rare alert about an ongoing, eight-year-long North Korean state-sponsored hacking operation. The joint report from the FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provided details on “DeltaCharlie,” a malware variant used by “Hidden Cobra” hacking group to infect hundreds of thousands of computers globally as part of its ...
- New SEC enforcement chiefs see cyber crime as biggest market threat
June 9, 2017
Hackers are increasingly breaking into brokerage accounts to steal assets or make illegal trades, prompting U.S. securities regulators to start tracking cyber crimes more closely, two newly appointed enforcement officials said in an interview on Thursday. On Thursday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission named Stephanie Avakian and Steven Peikin as new co-directors of enforcement. In an ...
- Federal task force: Here’s how to fix healthcare cybersecurity
June 6, 2017
A federal task force released its long-awaited cybersecurity recommendations report Friday evening. The far-reaching report from the Health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force was mandated by the Cybersecurity Act of 2015. The task force convened 21 wide-ranging stakeholders in medical cybersecurity, ranging from device manufacturers to hospitals to consumer advocates. Workforce issues are the “most foundational problem” for ...
- HHS task force wants cybersecurity treated as a patient safety issue
June 2, 2017
The Health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force today released the final version of its cybersecurity report, calling on the government to write policies that would help healthcare organizations boost their defenses—a need made even more evident after last month’s WannaCry ransomware attacks. The final report, which was mandated by the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2016, ...
- Georgia Unveils Massive Cybersecurity Investment to Protect Against Emerging Threats
May 23, 2017
The state of Georgia has set aside $50 million to construct an innovation and training facility that helps state and local agencies better respond to cyber threats. “The Peach State” has more than 30 systems across 16 state agencies that house highly-sensitive financial or public safety information, according to Calvin Rhodes, Georgia’s CIO. The state has ...