Federal authorities have arrested 281 people and seized nearly $3.7 million in a coordinated effort between multiple agencies to disrupt a massive email-fraud scheme.
Perpetrators of a global business email compromise (BEC) scheme were the target of a four-month investigation that began in May called Operation reWired, a coordinated effort by the U.S. Departments of Justice (DoJ), Homeland Security, Treasury, State and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, working with local and state law-enforcement agencies.
In addition to the arrests and millions in repatriations, officials also seized money-mule warning letters and assets for a total of 214 domestic actions in the investigation, according to a DoJ press release.
The news comes on the heels of an alert issued by the FBI that organizations have lost $26.2 billion in the last three years to BEC schemes, which defraud victims by using emails to deceive them into sending wire transfers or personal information so cybercriminals can realize financial gain.
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Source: ThreatPost