Arrested 22 subjects spreading malware, hijacking Facebook accounts to sell for money

The Department of Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention and Control, Ministry of Public Security, has just coordinated with Nam Dinh Provincial Police to successfully eradicate a group of subjects producing and spreading malware on cyberspace with the aim of appropriating personal accounts and user data nationwide and in other countries around the world, arresting 22 subjects.

Previously, on April 15, the Department of Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention and Control - Ministry of Public Security coordinated with the Criminal Police Department and the Department of Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention and Control of Nam Dinh Provincial Police to fight and eradicate a group of subjects producing and spreading malware on cyberspace with the aim of appropriating personal accounts and user data nationwide and in other countries around the world.

The task force simultaneously deployed 8 reconnaissance teams in 3 localities: Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Nam Dinh Province, arresting 22 subjects involved in the ring. They seized 4 laptops, 23 computers, 20 phones, 2 USBs, 5 cars, 1 air gun and 2 billion VND in cash along with many other related documents and papers.

On April 17, the Investigation Police Agency of Nam Dinh Province issued a decision to request an appraisal and send it to the Department of Information and Communications Security - Ministry of Information and Communications; the result: the samples sent for appraisal contained malicious code files.

The leader and supplier of the malware is Dang Dinh Son, born in 1993, who bought the source code of the malware that can steal Facebook user account information on a social networking forum for about 30 million VND.

Son used stolen malware to take over the administration of two Fanpages named “Art bay AI” and “Evoto Studio”. Then, Son used these two pages to post articles with fake content about creating beautiful images with AI or Chat GPT with the aim of attracting the attention of social network users; so that they could download and install them on their electronic devices.

When the malware penetrates the electronic devices of Facebook users, it will silently collect user information and transfer it to the server managed by Dang Dinh Son. From here, Son orders the server to divide into 5 telegram groups installed and managed by Son with dozens of subjects residing in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Nam Dinh province.

The subjects in the 5 telegram groups are divided into specific and clear tasks. These 5 Telegram groups together take over the use of social network accounts to sell high-value Facebook accounts for profit, while low-value Facebook accounts are used by the subjects to run ads such as clothes, pants, etc. on e-commerce platforms. After that, the subjects share the profits.

As a result of the initial investigation, the subjects took control of about 25,000 valuable Facebook Business Manager accounts of individuals and businesses in the country and around the world; illegally profiting about 90 billion VND.

As a result of the initial investigation, on April 23, the Investigation Police Agency of Nam Dinh Province initiated a case and prosecuted 20 suspects. Among them, Dang Dinh Son was prosecuted for the crimes of "Producing, trading, exchanging or giving away tools, equipment, and software for illegal purposes" and "Illegally accessing computer networks, telecommunications networks, or electronic devices of others"; 19 other suspects were prosecuted for the crime of "Illegally accessing computer networks, telecommunications networks, or electronic devices of others".

The Investigation Police Agency of Nam Dinh Province Police is continuing to coordinate with the Department of Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention - Ministry of Public Security and related units and localities to investigate, expand the case, and strictly handle the subjects according to the provisions of law.