A prominent fraud prevention service says international crime groups are spreading malware designed to steal victims’ banking information.

The London-based Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance System (CIFAS) says it is witnessing a surge in Android malware attacks targeting banking apps.

CIFAS says that while the malware targets Android users, other mobile platforms are not immune to attacks, noting that the malicious software may have hit 200,000 victims in just six months.

“These malicious apps often look like legitimate tools – such as file managers, PDF readers, phone cleaners, or even browsers like Google Chrome. Once installed, they can appear harmless but later activate harmful features through hidden updates.

Key techniques criminals use include:

Overlaying fake login screens on top of real banking apps to steal login credentials.

Displaying deceptive ‘busy’ or ‘waiting’ screens to mask fraudulent activity.

Preventing users from exiting the app or restarting their device.

Requesting excessive permissions, especially ‘accessibility’ access.”

According to CIFAS, users should be on the lookout for signs that their phones are infected with malware, including prompts to reauthenticate during a banking session, “busy” messages from banking apps, unexpected notifications to update or install Google Chrome and prompts to grant unusual permissions, particularly accessibility access.

Says CIFAS CEO Mike Haley,

“The surge in Android malware is not just a tech issue – it’s a growing threat to consumers and to banking services we all rely on. Criminals are evolving their tactics faster than ever, using deception and stealth to bypass traditional security measures.

The best defence is awareness. If something feels off – an unexpected update, a strange app request – stop before you tap and always seek a second opinion. Education and vigilance are our frontline tools in the fight against fraud.”

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Nearly half of the US population has been impacted by data breaches in the first half of 2025 alone, according to a new report from the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC).

The ITRC says 1,732 data compromises were reported in the US in H1 2025, which impacted 165,745,452 individuals.

“Analysis of data from the first six months of the year reveals a landscape dominated by cyberattacks, with supply chain vulnerabilities persisting as a major threat vector. While the total number of compromises has not dramatically outpaced previous years, the impact on victims remains severe.”

There are currently around 342 million people in the US, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The ITRC says there’s been a rise in artificial intelligence (AI)-powered phishing attacks, which are more difficult to detect, and other new threats to personal information.

“The introduction of repackaged and recirculated personal information – PCD (previously compromised data) – into the risk environment represents a significant new threat to organizations that are vulnerable to the use of stolen logins and passwords to gain access to mission-critical systems for ransom attacks and/or data exfiltration. The recent discovery of an unsecured cloud environment with more than 16 billion logins and passwords aggregated into a single database is an example of PCD.”

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A fraudster who drained hundreds of thousands of dollars from an elderly victim’s account is now staring at the possibility of spending decades behind bars.

Cuban national Michel Duarte Suarez has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft after stealing about $803,000 from his victim’s bank account over a four-month period.

Court documents show that Suarez told a confidential informant in March 2022 that he had access to the account of an 82-year-old victim.

While living in Panama at the time, the scammer wrote and sent checks to South Florida with instructions to his co-conspirators to encash the checks and wire 50% of the funds to Suarez’s Miami-based firm, Online Electronics. Authorities say that Suarez forged the checks to resemble the signature of the victim displayed on their signature card for the same bank account.

Suarez was arrested in January 2025 in Panama and was extradited to South Florida to face the charges. For his crimes, he could spend 30 years behind bars plus a mandatory consecutive two-year sentence to any imprisonment term handed down by a judge.

The fraudster is slated for sentencing on September 29th, 2025, in Miami before United States District Court Judge Kathleen M. Williams.

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Author

Hongji Feng

Author

Hongji Feng

About Author

Hongji is a crypto and tech reporter. He graduated from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism with a Bachelor’s and a Master’s. He has previously interned at HTX (Huobi Global),…

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Last updated: 

June 26, 2025

A Nigerian national pleaded guilty in Boston federal court on June 25 to charges related to laundering funds obtained through online romance fraud, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

Charles Uchenna Nwadavid, 35, admitted to mail fraud and two counts of money laundering. Prosecutors said he controlled cryptocurrency accounts used to move victim funds and accessed them remotely from overseas. His sentencing is scheduled for September 23.

Romance Scam Money Laundering Network Tied to Crypto

According to court documents, the scheme ran from 2016 to 2019 and involved six U.S. victims. The individuals were recruited through social media and dating platforms and persuaded to send money under false pretenses, such as medical emergencies or legal fees.

Authorities said one Massachusetts victim unknowingly received funds from five others and then transferred the money to Nwadavid via cryptocurrency.

The transactions were processed through LocalBitcoins, an online peer-to-peer platform. Nwadavid allegedly directed the transfers while abroad using online access credentials.

He was indicted in January 2024 and arrested in April 2025 upon arrival at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport from the United Kingdom.

Security Company Accused of Moving $123M via Crypto

Australian authorities recently charged four people in connection with an alleged A$190 million (~US$123 million) laundering scheme involving cryptocurrency and a Gold Coast security firm. The group moved illicit funds through courier services and converted them into crypto, blending them with legitimate business revenue.

The network used dead drops in multiple cities and air transport to move cash into Queensland. Some of the funds were funneled through a car dealership and a sales promotion company.

Authorities seized around A$21 million (~US$13 million) in assets, including 17 properties and several vehicles, and carried out 14 search warrants in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

Law enforcement agencies are expanding cross-border coordination and blockchain surveillance to track crypto-linked fraud. Peer-to-peer platforms and foreign exchanges often limit recovery, especially when victims are used to move funds unknowingly.

Authorities warn that enforcement tools are still catching up. While blockchain data offers visibility, gaps in regulation and technical capacity continue to hinder timely intervention.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

An investigation by top on-chain analyst ZachXBT has revealed how an alleged New York-based con artist stole millions of dollars from victims by pretending to be support staff from Coinbase.

In a thread on the social media platform X, the pseudonymous sleuth details how a man named Christian Nieves – who goes by “Daytwo” and “PawsOnHips” online – allegedly stole $4 million from Coinbase users by impersonating employees at the crypto exchange.

ZachXBT says that Nieves operates a small scam-call center group and also works as a caller. The group allegedly primarily coerces their victims into setting up a Coinbase wallet with an already compromised seed phrase on phishing sites.

Other people in Nieves’ circle also allegedly helped in separate thefts, including a henchman named Justin going as “Paranoia” who executed a $240,000 heist of an elderly victim’s Bitcoin (BTC) wallet.

According to ZachXBT, a portion of that $240,000 was deposited into crypto betting site Roobet, and the rest was converted into Monero (XMR).

“I traced out his casino deposit address which links onchain to 30+ suspected thefts.

I expect there’s many additional victims I am unable to directly link.

While there’s potentially overlap between multiple threat actors the vast majority of activity pertains to Daytwo… 

Daytwo has a gambling problem and you’ll see onchain how casino deposits get smaller as he loses funds.

Recently this escalated to the point where he started stealing cuts from accomplices.”

At time of writing, Nieves and his alleged accomplices have not been charged with anything by law enforcement, but given the amount of digital and on-chain evidence, ZachXBT says it should be a “rather easy” case for authorities.

However, most of the victims’ money is likely unrecoverable since it has been lost to gambling, the analyst says.

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Two California men face up to 30 years in jail for allegedly operating a scheme that fraudulently accessed the bank accounts of elderly victims and stole their funds.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California, a 17-count indictment unsealed on Tuesday charges brothers-in-law Ayman Alaaraj and Ahmad Nassar with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Court documents show that in May 2023, Nassar took over several bank accounts belonging to two elderly victims at two separate banks using sophisticated techniques, such as porting over the phone number belonging to one of the victims.

The method enabled Nassar to access the accounts and bypass the banks’ two-factor authentication protection. Nassar, occasionally assisted by Alaaraj, then drained the accounts and ran up unpaid credit card debits, causing more than $794,000 in losses to the victims.

The two men then moved the stolen money through the pass-through accounts created under the victim’s names, as well as funneled $100,000 through Alaaraj’s businesses.

The defendants eventually transferred the money to themselves using ATM cash withdrawals, personal checks, Western Union transactions and Zelle transactions. They also used the stolen funds to pay credit cards, engage in online gambling and buy a Mercedes.

If found guilty, the two men face up to 30 years of jail time and a $1 million fine for each count of bank fraud. They also face a mandatory prison term of two years and a fine of up to $250,000, or twice the gross gain or gross loss, for the aggravated identity theft count.

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An accountant and adjunct business instructor from Scranton, Pennsylvania, is sentenced to federal prison for her involvement in a multi-state business email compromise scheme.

In a statement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa says that 63-year-old Margo Ann Williams laundered $800,000 of proceeds from a scheme that was carried out between December 2022 and July 2023.

According to evidence presented at the trial, the email accounts of the five victims – a Cedar Rapids church, two businesses, a non-profit and an individual – were hacked while they were in the process of making large wire and automatic clearinghouse (ACH) transfers. 

The victims received spoofed emails containing instructions to change the routing information for the wire and ACH transfers. Believing that the emails were from legitimate and trusted sources, the victims instructed their banks to wire the funds according to the supposed new payment instructions.

The funds were rerouted to bank accounts that Williams controlled.

She subsequently relocated the funds to other bank accounts under her control before transferring the money to two crypto exchanges and another person in Florida. 

The banks discovered William’s fraudulent activities and closed her accounts, but she kept opening new ones at other banks in an effort to keep the scheme alive. She earned approximately $25,000 from the operation and spent the funds on many personal purchases, including an Apple watch and a luxury bag.

Williams, who claimed that she perpetrated the scheme at the direction of a famous British actor with whom she became romantically involved, was sentenced to four years in prison. She’s also ordered to pay $594,037 in restitution to her victims and must also serve a three-year term of supervised release following her imprisonment.

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