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Cybercriminals with ties to the Chinese government have stolen tens of millions of dollars in U.S. covid relief benefits, NBC reports.
APT41, a well-known threat actor, is said to have used various scams to siphon at least $20 million in relief benefits from state unemployment funds and Small Business Administration loans. That news comes from sources at the Secret Service, which has been investigating online fraud connected to covid relief programs. NBC calls this the "first instance of pandemic fraud tied to foreign, state-sponsored cybercriminals."
In the past, APT41—also known by its monikers "Winnti" and "Barium"—has been tied to a number of high-profile hacking campaigns that targeted U.S. victims. Earlier this year, the cybersecurity firm Mandiant reported that the group had penetrated the networks of at least six state governments via bugs in a widely used farming app—a campaign broadly considered to be an espionage effort.
In 2020, the U.S. Justice Department indicted a number of APT41 hackers in absentia in connection to a long-running hacking spree that allegedly stole millions of dollars from U.S. businesses, universities, non-profits, and other organizations. The hackers were never caught or brought to trial.
[...] Weirdly limited oversight of America's benefits distribution has made the system easy prey for online scammers. Cybercriminals and fraudsters have used a host of unsavory tactics (like stealing the social security numbers of dead people) to create fake profiles and file for illegitimate funds. In California alone, experts "conservatively" estimate that at least $20 billion in benefits have been stolen—including by a guy who boldly filed for funds using the name "Mr. Poopy Pants."
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday December 08 2022, @08:20PM (9 children)
>Weirdly limited oversight of America's benefits distribution has made the system easy prey for online scammers.
And what administration setup and oversaw this system and the level of oversight it had?
I'm guessing there are states, a lot of states, which have billions in "loans" from the early COVID relief programs that went to corporations that are now bankrupt or otherwise not required to repay them - not just "Mr. Poopy Pants" who was probably setup as a distraction from the bigger players.
The vulnerability of the program was sort of like a bribe for the corrupt... incidentally giving them more money and power and probably trolling for support for similar future handouts.
That China only got $20M out of such a program seems like a low estimate, to me.
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(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday December 09 2022, @04:20AM (8 children)
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday December 09 2022, @04:21AM
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday December 09 2022, @11:12AM (1 child)
>the assets supposed hidden in tax havens were around a trillion USD
Not quite enough to destabilize the world economy, but a good first step.
https://www.history.co.uk/articles/mansa-musa-the-richest-person-in-history [history.co.uk]
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(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday December 09 2022, @12:39PM
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday December 09 2022, @11:22AM (4 children)
I suspect if we were privvy to the timeline and information flow details, the US only entered pandemic lockdown and relief payments after it became clear that if we did not, the dollar would be even stronger than the current surge due to relief efforts around the developed world.
Makes me wonder what is happening with the Brazilian currency value right now... Seems that after a solid 50% devaluation across the 2010s, the Real has been more or less even with the US$ since 2020, including the ~25% gain vs the Euro in early 2022...
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(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday December 09 2022, @12:54PM (3 children)
In other words, a Keynesian race to the bottom. No excuse is too terrible to spend other peoples' money.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday December 09 2022, @01:07PM (2 children)
The name of the game is inflation, either play along or lose your export markets.
Since the 70s there has been a tacit "first world" agreement to ~2% annual inflation, and the pandemic broke that, temporarily one would hope, at least if one holds a significant portion of one's assets in a cash basis.
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(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday December 09 2022, @02:59PM (1 child)
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday December 09 2022, @04:44PM
>the money wouldn't go to the right people.
The BEST people, OUR people, JOB creators! /s
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