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Royal Malaysia Police, FBI, and AFP took down a phishing operation targeting Australian MyGov users.
Following the arrest of a Malaysian national in Borneo over a widespread and well-resourced phishing operation, the Australian Federal Police has revealed its role in the investigation.
Information leading to the arrest was “developed” by the AFP’s Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre, which found that the man was selling “phishing kits” that specifically targeted the MyGov website.
A further seven people were arrested by Royal Malaysia Police (RMP), apparently mules in the operation, after the Malaysian man’s arrest on 6 November.
The AFP investigation found the man was using a “bulletproof” hosting service for the operation’s infrastructure, apparently operating out of a Malaysian technology park.
At the same time, the FBI uncovered the same “bulletproof” hosting operation, which it linked to a large organised crime syndicate.
When arrested, the RMP found a raft of usernames and passwords, as well as crypto-wallet seeds and passphrases. The RMP also executed a search warrant at the technology park, where police found a server running more than 16 virtual machines supporting the hosting service.
In total, over 60 terabytes of data were seized during the multi-agency operation. The FBI and AFP assisted the RMP on the ground.
AFP acting Detective Superintendent Darryl Parrish said the operation strikes a blow against scammers.
“Cyber criminals will use any tools and tricks to exploit people for their own profit – in this case, it is mimicking trusted government websites,” acting Superintendent Parrish said in a statement.
“The AFP is committed to working with our valued law enforcement partners to track down cyber criminals and bring them to justice, regardless of where they are in the world.”
The FBI’s legal attaché in Canberra, Nitiana Mann, noted the importance of cooperation between law enforcement agencies in combating cyber crime.
“We will continue to pursue cyber criminals for their reckless actions wherever they may be located in the world,” Mann said.
Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf, Bukit Aman commercial crime investigation department director, was thankful for the assistance.
“We believe that we should continue to synergise our resources in facing current and future challenges of ICT-driven technologies,” Yoosuf said.
“The recent operations involving the three agencies to bust an online syndicate was a manifestation of this.”
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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