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Online fraud has developed into a sophisticated underground criminal operation that continues to evolve every day. Much like a real-world business, fraudsters offer products and services for a profit; they fight to gain competitive advantage and market share, are continually innovating to improve their offerings and meet customer needs.
Let'sexamine how the fraudster underground operates, the intricate supply chain which supports it, and how it continues to evolve.
Job specialisation
Harvesting: The fraudster underground is a marketplace for selling compromised credentials and tools and services used in the commission of fraud. Harvesting is the process of collecting credentials and personal information from online users.
A harvester works to steal and collect compromised credentials with the intention of reselling them to other fraudsters to cash out. Harvesters leverage technical infrastructure and tools such as phishing kits, Trojans, ATM skimming devices, and advanced infection delivery platforms to spread their attacks.
The technology and methods used to harvest credentials have evolved dramatically in the last few years, and continue to advance in order to circumvent established security measures employed by organisations and consumers.
The infrastructure developed and used by harvesters today offers great scalability and a high degree of customisation per specific target. The cost to deploy an attack has also decreased. Zeus has been the most predominant Trojan since last year and sells for US $1,000. Amateur fraudsters can purchase the more modest Limbo Trojan for US $350.
Cashier: Harvesters steal credentials and sell them to Cashiers. The goal of a cashier is to develop the operational infrastructure and strategy to empty a victims account without leaving any traces. Cashiers are likely to practice in the service industry, offering services to enable other fraudsters to cash out credit cards and bank accounts.
It utilise complex networks and often recruit bands of money mules. A money mule is a person that receives funds into their accounts, withdraws the money, and sends it overseas to the fraudster, often through a money transfer provider. Mules can also be used to receive and reship goods that are purchased online with a stolen credit card or account.
The fraud ecosystem consists of harvesters who collect stolen data and cashiers who use the data to empty a victims account.
Money mule recruitment networks and mule herdersmanagers who control the network of mulesare a specialised service offered for sale within the fraud underground. Many mule recruitment scams are sent through spam attacks that direct the user to websites that offer allegedly legitimate jobs to perform money transfers.
People apply for a position described as a money transfer agent or regional manager. In reality, honest people (and in some cases, dishonest people) are hired to become part of the fraud and money laundering cycle. They move cash that originates from compromised bank accounts, from one criminal to the other. Depending on the amount of money laundered, a mule will receive a small commission of the transferred amount.
Cashiers in the underground are also evolving phone fraud services to cash out accounts by taking advantage of inherent weaknesses in the call centre. A new service uncovered by RSA shows fraudsters offering professional call services that can spoof any number in the United States and also offers cash out in multiple languages.
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