A 35-year-old Chinese national is facing charges related to committing cybercrimes that FBI Director Christopher Wray described as “likely the world’s largest botnet ever.”
The arrest in Singapore was the result of an international coordinated effort that included law enforcement agencies from Germany, Singapore, the United States and Thailand.
YunHe Wang, arrested on May 24, is accused of being the creator of the 911 S5 botnet, a residential proxy service.
Wang, along with other unnamed parties, created the 911 S5 botnet to facilitate “cyber-attacks, large-scale fraud, child exploitation, harassment, bomb threats, and export violations,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a Department of Justice press release on Wednesday.
Wang sold access to infected IP addresses to cybercriminals in exchange for crypto or fiat currency. From these transactions, he received at least $99 million in profits, the DOJ stated.
The cybercriminals Wang transacted with were allegedly able to use the infected IP addresses to “bypass financial fraud detection systems and steal billions of dollars from financial institutions, credit card issuers, and federal lending programs,” according to the DOJ release.
The compromised IP addresses allowed Wang’s customers to create fraudulent unemployment claims that targeted pandemic relief programs. The United States estimates they lost $5.9 billion from these fraudulent claims.
Wang used his profits to buy property in China, St. Kitts and Nevis, the United States, Singapore, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. Wang also spent his money on luxury cars and watches.
Wang faces several charges including substantive computer fraud, conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Wang could face up to 65 years in prison if convicted.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
