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.

Also: Updates in KelpDAO, Drift, Hyperbridge HacksThis week, Grinex was exploited, a hacker laundered KelpDAO funds, Circle was sued over $280M Drift hack, Rhea Finance and Volo Protocol were exploited, update in Hyperbridge hack, sentencing in art scam case, a French home invasion for crypto theft and eth.limo hijack thwarted.

Scammers are sending fake "Notice of Default" traffic violation text messages impersonating state courts across the U.S., pressuring recipients to scan a QR code that leads to a phishing site demanding a $6.99 payment while stealing personal and financial information. [...]

Loan phishing operation in Peru is stealing card info by impersonating financial institutions

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned that cybercriminals are impersonating financial institutions with an aim to steal money or sensitive information to facilitate account takeover (ATO) fraud schemes

An ongoing smishing campaign is targeting New Yorkers with text messages posing as the Department of Taxation and Finance, claiming to offer "Inflation Refunds" in an attempt to steal victims' personal and financial data. [...]

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.

Also, Nike Sued Over Shutdown of NFT SubsidiaryThis week, KiloEX compensation after Oracle exploit, Nike sued over NFT shutdown, SEC dropped probe into PayPal PYUSD, Long Island man sentenced for crypto fraud, Americans lost billions to crypto scams, Loopscale exploiter agreed to return stolen funds and bank regulators softened stance on crypto.

Phishers check in, your credentials check out, Microsoft warns An ongoing phishing campaign disguised as a Booking.com email casts keystroke and credential-stealing malware into hospitality employees' inboxes for financial fraud and theft, according to Microsoft Threat Intelligence.…

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.

Facebook users are the target of a scam e-commerce network that uses hundreds of fake websites to steal personal and financial data using brand impersonation and malvertising tricks

Scammers Use Social Engineering and Phishing to Fool Workers and IT Help Desk StaffFederal authorities warn of social engineering and phishing scams - sometimes targeting IT help desk workers - that allow attackers to steal login credentials and access healthcare sector entities' IT systems so they can divert automated clearinghouse payments to bank accounts the attackers control.

Hackers Used Dozens of Servers to Distribute Malicious Android AppsLaw enforcement authorities in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan took down a cybercrime ring that used dozens of servers and hundreds of phishing pages across multiple jurisdictions to run a malware-enabled scam operation and steal tens of millions from victims' bank accounts.

Also: Arrests in a $43M Ponzi Scheme and Arrest in ZKasino CaseThis week, BTC-e head pleaded guilty; arrests were made in Ponzi scheme, ZKasino case; charges filed in Cred scam; individual and Pike Finance were hacked; Hundred Finance's hacker moved stolen funds; the EU took down an exit scam; the feds probed Block' and crypto scammers were arrested.

A new DNS threat actor dubbed Savvy Seahorse is leveraging sophisticated techniques to entice targets into fake investment platforms and steal funds

GoldPickaxe Malware Can Record User’s Face - Use Video to Commit Deepfake ScamsA Chinese-speaking cybercrime group with the codename GoldFactory has built a new Android and iOS banking Trojan, GoldPickaxe, that can harvest and steal personal details, including biometric face profiles, that attackers use to create AI-driven deepfakes to fool bank defenses, researchers warn.

American Hospital Association Warns of Social Engineering SchemesThe American Hospital Association is warning of increasingly sophisticated social engineering scams targeting hospital IT help desks with schemes involving the stolen credentials of revenue cycle and other finance employees to commit payment fraud against the institutions.

Hands-On Review: Memcyco’s Threat Intelligence Solution Website impersonation, also known as brandjacking or website spoofing, has emerged as a significant threat to online businesses. Malicious actors clone legitimate websites to trick customers, leading to financial scams and data theft causing reputation damage and financial losses for both organizations and customers

Recent weeks have seen a sizable uptick in the number of phishing scams targeting U.S. Postal Service (USPS) customers. Here's a look at an extensive SMS phishing operation that tries to steal personal and financial data by spoofing the USPS, as well as postal services in at least a dozen other countries worldwide.

A new large-scale smishing campaign is targeting the U.S. by sending iMessages from compromised Apple iCloud accounts with an aim to conduct identity theft and financial fraud