Latest news with #cybercrime
The Guardian
an hour ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
FBI opens first office in New Zealand ‘to counter China and cybercrime'
The director of the FBI, Kash Patel, has opened the bureau's first ever office in New Zealand, in what he said was an attempt to help counter China's activities in the Indo-Pacific, crack down on issues including cybercrime, and strengthen protection of the Five Eyes nations. Patel, who opened the office at the US embassy in Wellington on Thursday, called the event an 'historic moment'. 'The announcement that we are opening up our law enforcement attache office here in Wellington shows the world that the FBI is actually prioritising a permanent presence across all Five Eyes countries,' Patel said in a video, supplied by the embassy. 'Here in New Zealand we had not had that until this historic moment, so we are truly humbled with the reception we have been given.' Patel said the US and New Zealand would work together on 'some of the most important global issues of our time'. 'Countering the CCP in the Indopacom [the US's Indo-Pacific Command] area, countering the narcotics trade, working against cyber intrusion and ransomware operations and most importantly protecting our respective citizenry,' he said. The FBI has stationed staff in Wellington since 2017, as a sub-office of the legal attaché office in Australia's capital Canberra, Australia. The new office will have responsibility for partnerships in New Zealand, Antarctica, Samoa, Niue, Cook Islands, and Tonga. Patel – a Donald Trump ally, who has made headlines in recent weeks over the Epstein controversy - is the most senior member of the US administration to visit New Zealand since the start of Trump's second term in office. During his visit, he met with senior government representatives, including the ministers and heads responsible for the country's police, foreign affairs and spy agencies. The minister responsible for New Zealand's intelligence services, Judith Collins said she and Patel had 'exchanged a range of insights' on areas such as trans-national organised crime, counter-terrorism, cybersecurity and espionage. Police minister Mark Mitchell said Patel's visit should 'send a clear message to criminals' that they 'cannot hide behind an international border'. 'New Zealand police are continually working with their overseas counterparts like the FBI to catch those engaged in illegal, harmful activities such as drug smuggling and online child exploitation, as well disrupting and preventing this offending from happening in the first place,' he said in a statement.
Globe and Mail
19 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
If you fall for a scam, who should pick up the bill?
The Decibel Staff Irene Galea Alexandra Posadzki Financial and cybercrime reporter to view this content.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
2 Hong Kong teens among 80 conned over 4 weeks in compensated dating scams
Two teenage schoolboys were among more than 80 Hongkongers who lost a combined HK$3.7 million (US$471,400) over four weeks in July, after they were deceived into making upfront payments for sex or companionship in a series of compensated dating scams, according to police. The force said the boys, aged 13 and 14, were duped into paying a total of HK$5,500 to meet 'dates' they had contacted via Instagram or dating apps, but the encounters never materialised. Police also revealed that nearly 20 per cent of the victims were under the age of 20. In response, they posted a public warning on the CyberDefender Facebook page on Monday, urging extra caution – particularly among students during the summer holidays – when meeting people online. Compensated dating scams typically target individuals willing to pay for companionship, which often includes sexual services. Hong Kong recorded 2,029 reports of compensated dating-related scams involving total losses of HK$100 million last year, and 2,136 cases with HK$113 million in losses in 2023. The 13-year-old boy in one of the latest cases was a Form Two student who tried to make new friends on Instagram. He was conned into transferring HK$5,000 as a 'deposit' over three transactions via Alipay before any meeting was arranged.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
'Greedy' National Crime Agency officer jailed after stealing £4.4 million in bitcoin from dark web drug dealer a 'first of its kind case', specialist prosecutor tells Mail podcast
A former National Crime Agency employee has 'destroyed his good life and career' after being jailed for stealing 50 Bitcoin from a dark web drug dealer, a prosecutor has told an exclusive Mail podcast. Paul Chowles, 42, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for stealing Bitcoin now worth £4.4 million from a drug dealer who was under investigation in 2017. Drug dealer Thomas White, who operated a dark web marketplace known as 'Silk Road 2.0' from his Liverpool home, alerted police to Chowles after telling investigators that proceeds from his criminal enterprise had gone missing. Chowles's theft went undetected for five years as he used his expertise in cybercrime to conceal his ill-gotten gains. Speaking to the Mail's Trial Plus podcast, specialist prosecutor Alex Johnson, who worked for the Crown Prosecution Service against Chowles, described why the case is truly 'a first of its kind.' Johnson said: 'When the Bitcoin was stolen in 2017, it was worth around £59,000. During the investigation, the value of Bitcoin exploded. 'The stolen Bitcoin would now be worth in excess of £4 million. An interesting aspect of the case was that Chowles was able to spend more money than he had stolen because the value of it went up during the time it was in his possession. 'Chowles was extremely calculated in the way he dealt with the stolen Bitcoin. He moved it into a system on the dark web called the Bitcoin fog. 'It was a way criminals could effectively wash dirty Bitcoin and send it back to themselves as clean Bitcoin. 'Merseyside police had to carry out an extremely diligent investigation to locate the Bitcoin, including hiring an expert to locate every transaction within the fog… this showed the Bitcoin being transferred into an account which could be linked unequivocally to Chowles.' Chowles was not only strategic in concealing the Bitcoin's transfer, but also careful in how he spent the stolen money. He avoided 'flashy' purchases, using his newfound wealth to buy groceries and home supplies. 'Chowles spent the money on fairly routine things', Johnson told the podcast. 'Working through his bank statements showed purchases at Asda, Sainsburys, Screw Fix and visits to local pubs and restaurants. 'He was careful – no holidays to the Bahamas or Ferraris or anything like that. Just day to day spending. 'Chowles used the stolen Bitcoin for more than 900 transactions and was able to carry out debit card and bank transfers of just under £80,000.' The specialist prosecutor emphasised that the lengthy prison sentence sends a strong message to potential Bitcoin criminals. 'At the end of the day, Chowles is a greedy and dishonest officer who decided he would breach public trust and steal something he should have been protecting', Johnson said. 'He's a family man. He lives with his partner… he really has destroyed what was a good career and a good life. 'I think for him to go to prison at this stage of his life must be real deterrent for anyboy else who might be looking at what's happened and considering doing the same thing.' Chowles was able to get hold of White's Bitcoin by accessing one of several USB drives containing the digital currency that had been seized from White's address. White operated online under the alias, 'Dread Pirate Roberts', a reference to the 1987 fantasy film The Princess Bride. In the film, the name Dread Pirate Roberts is passed down through generations of fearsome pirates, when their last leader retires. The USB drive containing the Bitcoin was titled 'Dread Pirate Roberts retirement fund', which led Johnson to make an amusing observation. 'Chowles considered this his retirement fund – and in doing so, became the new Dread Pirate Roberts!'
The Guardian
4 days ago
- The Guardian
Spanish teenager investigated on suspicion of creating AI-generated nude videos
Police in eastern Spain are investigating a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of using artificial intelligence to create and share fake nude images of his female schoolmates that he intended to sell online. Guardia Civil officers in the Ribera Alta area of Valencia began investigating in December last year after a female student reported the creation of a social media account in her name that featured an AI-generated video. Guardia Civil said in a statement on Sunday: 'Photos of various people, all of them minors, appeared on this account. All these photos had been modified from the originals, which had been manipulated so that the people in them appeared completely naked.' The same girl reported a second social media account in her name, as well as other accounts that showed AI-generated nude videos, and a webpage devoted to advertising the images for commercial purposes. After 15 other minors came forward with similar complaints, officers began to suspect the person behind the faked images and videos was one of the girls' schoolmates. By trawling social media posts, contacting hosting companies and examining a website advertising AI image modification services, police picked up the trail of the suspect. Guardia Civil said: 'Officers obtained user and access information used on these platforms – including IP addresses – which led to the home of one of the complainants' schoolmates. They also confirmed that the emails used to create the accounts belonged to the same person.' The Guardia Civil said a 17-year-old boy was being investigated on suspicion of corrupting minors, adding that a youth court in Valencia was overseeing the case. Last year, 15 minors in the south-western Spanish region of Extremadura were sentenced to a year's probation after being convicted of using AI to produce fake naked images of their female schoolmates, which they had shared on WhatsApp groups. The defendants were also ordered to attend classes on gender and equality awareness, and on the 'responsible use of technology'. The court said in a statement: 'The sentence notes that it has been proved that the minors used artificial intelligence applications to obtain manipulated images of [other minors] by taking girls' original faces from their social media profiles and superimposing those images on the bodies of naked female bodies. The manipulated photos were then shared on two WhatsApp groups.' The Malvaluna Association, which acted on behalf of the affected families, said the case had implications for wider Spanish society. 'Beyond this particular trial, these facts should make us reflect on the need to educate people about equality between men and women,' the association told the online newspaper at the time. It said the case underlined the necessity of proper sex education at school so that children did not learn about sex from pornography, which 'generates more sexism and violence'. In March, Spain's socialist-led government said it was working on a law that would help protect young people online by treating internet grooming and the use of non-consensual AI-created sexual imagery as criminal offences.
