Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

Complaint Says Service Generated More Than 1.5 Million Malicious URLsGoogle has sued a Chinese phishing-as-a-service provider accused of teaching customers to use Gemini to generate and customize scam websites, a campaign linked to more than 1.59 million phishing URLs, over 100,000 victims, and widespread credential and financial theft.

Top European Court Advisor Says Policy Should Be 'Refund Now, Sue Later'Banks must promptly refund phishing victims when the scams lead to unauthorized transactions, an advisor to the European Union’s top court has said. The case in question involves an unnamed Polish woman who got duped on an online auction platform.

Cybercrime Group First Listed Ohio Health System as a Data Theft Victim Last JuneOhio-based Kettering Health is notifying current and former patients and "affiliates" that their personal, health and financial information was potentially compromised in a May 2025 ransomware attack and data theft incident claimed by cybercriminal gang Interlock.

Leaked Financial and Admissions Data Includes Contact Details for 'Top Donors'Harvard University has been named as a victim and doxed by hack-and-leak group ShinyHunters, apparently as a result of the cybercrime group's ongoing "live phishing" attacks that often attempt to trick IT help desks into giving attackers direct access to a victim's network and cloud-based data.

Leaked Financial and Admissions Data Includes Contact Details for 'Top Donors'Harvard University has been named as a victim and doxed by hack-and-leak group ShinyHunters, apparently as a result of the cybercrime group's ongoing "live phishing" attacks that often attempt to trick IT help desks into giving attackers direct access to a victim's network and cloud-based data.

Little Progress Made to Mandate Customer Reimbursement for Financial ScamsFinancial scams and synthetic identity fraud showed no signs of slowing in 2025, as regulators focused on fraud prevention over reimbursement for victims. But some countries joined the United Kingdom in advancing new anti-scam measures that focus on prevention and industry accountability.

Inotiv Tells SEC 'It's Still Evaluating Full Impact and Notifying Breach Victims'Drug research firm Inotiv in a filing with federal regulators said it is still evaluating the financial and operational impact of an August cyberattack that's linked to ransomware gang Qilin. The company is also notifying nearly 10,000 people whose data was allegedly stolen in the incident.

Breach Notification Service Details Peer-to-Peer Lending Marketplace Victim CountHackers appear to have stolen personal information pertaining to more than 17 million individuals from peer-to-peer lending marketplace Prosper, including Social Security numbers, contact information and some income and financial details, says the Have I Been Pwned breach notification service.

Recent, Targeted Attacks Suggest Undercut Group's Claimed 'Going Dark' RetirementElements of the notorious ransomware collective lately calling itself Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters appear to be targeting fresh victims, including a U.S. banking organization if not the sector at large, despite a member of the group claiming it would be "going dark" and retiring.

Also: Scammer Gets 12-Year Sentence for Dodging RestitutionAbacus Market's suspected exit scam, crypto scammer gets 12 years for dodging restitution, GMX exploiter returns funds, BigOne's $27M hack, Arcadia Finance's $3.5M theft, NZ woman's trial for alleged murder and a DOJ crypto fraud filing's potential unmasking of MoonPay victims.

Most Compromises Trace to Financial Services, Healthcare, Professional ServicesData breaches rage on. In the first half of this year, the Identity Theft Resource Center counted 1,732 total data breaches affecting 166 million people, marking a rise in data breaches but a decline in victims, likely due to a drop in mega-breaches.

FIs Must Invest in AI-Fueled Behavioral Biometrics to Go Beyond Static CredentialsScammers are increasingly turning to account takeover fraud, as financial institutions ramp up their defenses. Instead of luring victims into making authorized transactions, cybercriminals are bypassing them altogether, hijacking their digital identities and draining accounts from within.

Attack Combines Social Engineering and Card Emulation to Execute Real-Time TheftHackers are using Chinese-speaking Android malware-as-a-service SuperCard X to carry out near-field communication relay attacks, siphoning payment card data and executing live point of sale and ATM transactions. Victims receive spoofed SMS or WhatsApp alerts purporting to originate from their bank.

Jason Costain on Ways Traditional and Digital Banks Could Learn from Each OtherDigital-only banks promise speed and sleek digital experiences but are not the best places to handle scam victims. Without branches to visit, victims find themselves stuck in a loop of chatbots, said Jason Costain, former head of fraud analytics and threat management at NatWest Group.

Jason Costain on Ways Traditional and Digital Banks Could Learn from Each OtherDigital-only banks promise speed and sleek digital experiences but are not the best places to handle scam victims. Without branches to visit, victims find themselves stuck in a loop of chatbots, said Jason Costain, former head of fraud analytics and threat management at NatWest Group.

What Do You Mean, Hospital-Targeting Sociopath Ransomware Wielders Continue to Lie?A ransomware group reusing the Babuk ransomware brand claims to have stolen data from the likes of Amazon, Delta and US Bank. Just one problem: Security experts found a startling overlap between its claimed victims and previous attacks scored by the likes of Clop, LockBit and RansomHub.

Move to Fold PSR Into Financial Conduct Authority Could Affect Fraud VictimsThe U.K. government late Tuesday abolished its Payment Systems Regulator, a move aimed at reducing business complexity and supporting the Labour government's economic growth agenda. Payment system firms had complained that they had to deal with three different regulators.

Banks Shift Blame to Social Media, Telecoms While Scam Victims Pay the PriceIf you're the victim of a scam in Australia, the chances of being reimbursed for your stolen funds are low. In fact, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority ruled in favor of full reimbursement for victims in only 4.8% of its cases last year, highlighting the difficulty consumers face when disputing fraud-related losses with their banks.

Experts Weigh the Pros and Cons of Work Culture and Merging AML and Fraud TeamsA recent report found that more than 57,000 Americans fall victim to scams every day. Financial fraud is rising globally. In response, the National Automated Clearinghouse Association is pushing for real-time fraud monitoring by 2026, requiring closer collaboration between fraud and AML teams.

Academics Build AI Agent With OpenAI to Execute Phone Scams at ScaleHackers can use OpenAI's real-time voice API to carry out for less than a dollar deepfake scams involving voice impersonations of government officials or bank employees to swindle victims, said researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.