Human Trafficking | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Europol on Monday announced the takedown of a cryptocurrency investment fraud ring that laundered €460 million ($540 million) from more than 5,000 victims across the world. The international effort, codenamed Operation Borrelli, was carried out by the Spanish Guardia Civil, along with support from law enforcement authorities from Estonia, France, and the United States. Europol said the investigation into the syndicate started in 2023. In addition, the five alleged suspects behind the cryptocurrency scam were arrested on June 25, 2025. Three of the arrests took place in the Canary Islands, while two others were apprehended from Madrid. "To carry out their fraudulent activities, the leaders of the criminal network allegedly used a net of associates spread around the world to raise funds through cash withdrawals, bank transfers, and crypto-transfers," Europol said . These types of scams often follow a pattern known as cryptocurrency confidence or romance baiting (formerly ...

The relationship between various TDSs and DNS associated with Vigorish Viper and the final landing experience for the user A Chinese organized crime syndicate with links to money laundering and human trafficking across Southeast Asia has been using an advanced "technology suite" that runs the whole cybercrime supply chain spectrum to spearhead its operations. Infoblox is tracking the proprietor and maintainer under the moniker Vigorish  Viper , noting that it's likely synonymous with the Yabo Group (aka Yabo Sports), which has been linked to illegal gambling operations and pig butchering scams in the past. In late 2022, it rebranded as Kaiyun Sports and has since been absorbed into another newly formed entity called Ponymuah. The suite, marketed in China as "baowang" ("包网," meaning full package) encompasses several components such as Domain Name System (DNS) configurations, website hosting, payment mechanisms, advertising, and mobile apps. It also...

Cryptocurrency analysts have shed light on an online marketplace called HuiOne Guarantee that's widely used by cybercriminals in Southeast Asia, particularly those linked to pig butchering scams. "Merchants on the platform offer technology, data, and money laundering services, and have engaged in transactions totaling at least $11 billion," Elliptic said in a report shared with The Hacker News. The British blockchain analytics firm said that the marketplace is part of HuiOne Group, a Cambodian conglomerate with links to Cambodia's ruling Hun family and that another HuiOne business, HuiOne International Payments, is actively involved in laundering scam proceeds globally. According to its website , HuiOne's financial services arm is said to have 500,000 registered users. It also touts Alipay, Huawei, PayGo Wallet, UnionPay, and Yes Seatel as its customers. Southeast Asian countries like Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, and the Philippines have become...

SaaS Adoption is Skyrocketing, Resilience Hasn't Kept Pace SaaS platforms have revolutionized how businesses operate. They simplify collaboration, accelerate deployment, and reduce the overhead of managing infrastructure. But with their rise comes a subtle, dangerous assumption: that the convenience of SaaS extends to resilience. It doesn't. These platforms weren't built with full-scale data protection in mind . Most follow a shared responsibility model — wherein the provider ensures uptime and application security, but the data inside is your responsibility. In a world of hybrid architectures, global teams, and relentless cyber threats, that responsibility is harder than ever to manage. Modern organizations are being stretched across: Hybrid and multi-cloud environments with decentralized data sprawl Complex integration layers between IaaS, SaaS, and legacy systems Expanding regulatory pressure with steeper penalties for noncompliance Escalating ransomware threats and inside...

The Indian government said it has rescued and repatriated about 250 citizens in Cambodia who were held captive and coerced into running cyber scams. The Indian nationals "were lured with employment opportunities to that country but were forced to undertake illegal cyber work," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)  said  in a statement, adding it had rescued 75 people in the past three months. It also said it's working with "with Cambodian authorities and with agencies in India to crack down on those responsible for these fraudulent schemes." The development comes in the wake of a  report  from the Indian Express that said more than 5,000 Indians stuck in Cambodia were forced into "cyber slavery" by organized crime rackets to scam people in India and extort money by masquerading as law enforcement authorities in some cases. The report also tracks with an earlier disclosure from INTERPOL, which characterized the situation as  human trafficking-fu...