FBI and Australia busts over 800 criminals worldwide - BBC

[Sophiegirl]

More than 800 suspected criminals have been arrested worldwide after being tricked into using an FBI-run encrypted messaging app, officials say.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-57394831


The operation, jointly conceived by Australia and the FBI, saw devices with the ANOM app secretly distributed among criminals, allowing police to monitor their chats about drug smuggling, money laundering and even murder plots.

Officials called it a watershed moment.

Targets included drug gangs and people with links to the mafia.

Drugs, weapons, luxury vehicles and cash were also seized in the operation, which was conducted across more than a dozen countries. This included eight tons of cocaine, 250 guns and more than $48m (£34m) in various worldwide currencies and cryptocurrencies.


/snip
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Worth reading the entire article!!

[zaj]

1. This says nothing about ransomware

[Sophiegirl]

2. Opps. I totally conflated the two stories.

I’ve edited the topic.

Still.....very interesting use of technology to trick and catch the bad guys.

Thanks, Sof

[dawg day]

3. Yes, sounds like these are more the good old-fashioned

Kinds of bad guys!

[Bev54]

4. I love this!

Cannot wait until we hear more.

[Princess Turandot]

5. LOL The Aussies made a point of crediting a 'senior' crime boss for his priceless help

... in using one of these gizmos and giving its chat system his seal of approval.

They suggested that he might want to turn himself in (he's hiding in Turkey) before one of his pissed off crime brethren comes a-calling.

Australian fugitive and alleged drug trafficker Hakan Ayik was key to the sting, having unwittingly recommended the app to criminal associates after being given a handset by undercover officers, police said.
...
Local outlets say he has been living in Turkey since evading arrest, living a luxury lifestyle with a Dutch wife.

Police said he was "best off handing himself into us" as soon as possible, as he may be in danger himself, having unwittingly helped the FBI with their sting.

[NQAS]

6. Pretty nifty

Can this be done twice? I mean, are crooks stupid enough for fall for this kind of thing again?

I'd like to see the names trump, kushner, flynn, et al appear in future reporting.

Of course, if our home-grown crooks and terrorists were using this system and their names don't show up in future reporting - well, that would be something, wouldn't it? Though of course we wouldn't know about it.

[getagrip_already]

8. It's an old trick the gov has used many times......

And continues to use.

Think about some wonderful free app that would be of interest to people who don't want others to know what they are doing: secure messaging, vpn's, file shares, block chain services, encryption apps.....

Then picture a gov agency putting their own access into it and releasing on a foreign website.

Sometimes you hear about it. Other times you only see the arrests and wonder how they found them. Still others never see the light of day.

Oh, and it isn't only our govt that does this.

[Klaralven]

9. Even better is having the CIA own a Swiss crypto company selling crypto machines to other government

Uncovering The CIA's Audacious Operation That Gave Them Access To State Secrets

https://www.npr.org/2020/03/05/812499752/uncovering-the-cias-audacious-operation-that-gave-them-access-to-state-secrets

[cynical_idealist]

7. Come on in to the fbi honeypot

For a new life with 3 hots and a cot.