WASHINGTON: A Foreign regional was arrested in Singapore in an international function on charges of creating and using ransomware that was used in cyberattacks, large- level fraud and child exploitation.
Wang Yunhe, 35, was detained on May 24th, according to the Singapore Police Force ( SPF), for his alleged involvement in cybercriminal activity in the United States.
The arrest followed an , extradition request from the United States, said SPF on Thursday ( May 30 ), in response to CNA queries.  , The US has an extradition agreement with Singapore.
Wang, a US official, claimed to have run a significant bot for almost ten years.
FBI Director Christopher Wray, who was cited by the US Department of Justice ( DOJ), claimed on Wednesday that the “911 S5” botnet, a network of malware, had infected computers in nearly 200 nations and was likely the largest in the world.
By selling access to these computers to thieves who used them for identity theft, baby oppression, and financial fraud, including pandemic relief schemes, this malware was said to have made millions in profits.
Search warrants were executed in Singapore and Thailand, the FBI’s deputy assistant director for digital activities, Brett Leatherman, said.
In a speech released on May 29, the DOJ claimed Wang and other unknown individuals had allegedly” created and disseminated malware to sacrifice and acquire a network of millions of personal Windows computers worldwide.”
Wang made US$ 99 million from profits of the hacked modeled IP addresses in fiat money and crypto between 2018 and 2022, according to the DOJ.
According to the report, scammers who obtained access to the sick IP addresses bypassed financial fraud prevention techniques and extorted “billions of bucks from financial institutions, credit card issuers, and national banking programs.”
According to the DOJ, this includes false loss exceeding US$ 5.9 billion stemming from 560, 000 dishonest poverty insurance claims that were brought on by jeopardized IP addresses.
The prosecution says Wang used his unlawful profits to buy 21 properties in the United States, China, Singapore, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and St Kitts and Nevis, where it said he obtained citizen through purchase.
In addition to the properties, Wang’s assets and qualities included sports trucks, more than a few domestic and international bank accounts, over two dozen crypto pockets, and luxury watches.
” Broken FROM A SCREENPLAY”
The acts alleged against Wang read like they are “ripped from a screenplay”, said Matthew S Axelrod, the assistant director for trade protection at , the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security.
” A scheme to sell exposure to tens of malware-infected computers worldwide, allowing criminals around the world to take billions of dollars, transfer bomb threats, and trade child abuse materials,” he said, before turning the nearly US$ 100 million in profits to purchase luxury cars, watches, and real estate.  ,
According to officials, 560, 000 false claims for unemployment insurance were made using hacked IP addresses.
Wang allegedly managed the botnet through 150 dedicated servers, half of them leased from US- based online service providers.
The DOJ said the operation was a multi- agency effort led by law enforcement in the US, Singapore, Thailand and Germany.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Singapore police announced on Thursday that they and the Attorney-General had been working with the DOJ and FBI since August 2022.
Investigations, led by the US, are ongoing, said the police.