Chinese National Arrested for Global Cyber Attacks and Fraud

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that a Chinese national, Wang Yunhe, was arrested in an international operation for allegedly creating and using malware involved in cyber attacks, large-scale fraud, and child exploitation. 

Wang, 35, was apprehended in Singapore on May 24, as reported by the Straits Times.

This arrest follows a significant operation last August, where ten Chinese citizens with multiple nationalities were charged with laundering over $2 billion through the Asian financial hub. 

The DOJ's statement from May 29 details that Wang and unnamed accomplices allegedly developed and spread malware to compromise millions of residential Windows computers globally from 2018 until July 2022. 

Wang reportedly earned $99 million from selling access to these infected IP addresses, receiving payments in both cryptocurrency and fiat currency.

Cybercriminals used compromised IP addresses to bypass fraud detection systems, leading to the theft of billions of dollars from financial institutions, credit card issuers, and federal lending programs. 

This included $5.9 billion in fraudulent unemployment insurance claims from 560,000 compromised IP addresses.

Wang allegedly used the illicit proceeds to acquire properties and assets worldwide, including in the United States, St. Kitts and Nevis, China, Singapore, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.

His assets included sports cars, numerous bank accounts, cryptocurrency wallets, luxury watches, and 21 properties across several countries.

Matthew S. Axelrod, assistant secretary for export enforcement at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, compared the case to a screenplay, describing a complex scheme that enabled global criminals to steal billions, transmit bomb threats, and exchange child exploitation materials, with profits used to buy luxury items and real estate.