AI-Driven Deepfake BEC Scheme Charges Three in $129 Million Fraud
Three individuals were indicted in the Southern District of New York for an AI-augmented business email compromise (BEC) scheme that caused approximately $129 million in losses. Attackers used AI voice cloning, deepfake video generation, and spoofed corporate email accounts to impersonate CEOs and attorneys, authorizing fraudulent wire transfers via VoIP and video conferencing. The campaign represents a shift from text-based BEC to multimodal synthetic identity fraud, exposing gaps in financial authorization and voice/video verification controls.
Ploutus ATM Malware: Arrest of Alleged Developer and Disruption of Tren de Aragua
In March 2024, the FBI added Aníbal Canelon Aguirre, alleged lead developer of the Ploutus ATM malware family (variants Ploutus.D and Ploutus.E), to its Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list; he was apprehended in Nebraska and charged with facilitating a transnational jackpotting campaign linked to the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang. Ploutus malware forces ATMs to dispense cash via USB or network‑based delivery, interacting with XFS/CEN/XFS middleware to issue cash‑dispense commands, employing obfuscation, packing, encryption, and a C2 infrastructure for remote activation. The arrest disrupted a key node of the Tren de Aragua cybercrime network and halted ongoing Ploutus‑based jackpotting operations targeting ATMs across the United States and Latin America.