‘Phishing bust’ in Egypt and US

An international phishing scam has been uncovered. It involves cyber criminals in Egypt and the US and Egypt.

Accordingly, authorities have made around 80 arrests, following a two-year investigation into this organized crime gang. Reports suggest that they have stolen around $1.5 million in phishing attacks on hundreds of US bank accounts, and it’s somewhat puzzling to note that the attacks originate from Egypt!

The Egyptian nationals arrested are 47 people, who have been charged with computer fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identify theft.

The remaining thirty-three suspects arrested came from California, Nevada, and North Carolina, and it is reported that the US authorities are seeking a further twenty people.

Here’s the story cirulating in the media: “The gang launched the phishing attacks from Egypt to gain account details of customers with two US banks. Once the accounts were compromised, money was stolen from legitimate customer accounts by transferring it into bogus accounts set up by the US part of the gang. The US gang members would then withdraw funds from these accounts and transfer the profits by wire transfer to Egypt.”

The FBI's Los Angeles office led the investigation, calling the operation ‘Phish Phry', and cooperated with Egyptian authorities in what is now considered to be the first joint cyber investigation between the US and an Arab country. Even the US Secret Service and Electronics Crimes Task Force were involved.

This bust is being hailed as ‘an organized response by law enforcement across international borders, which we have seen in this case.’

What worries international police is this emerging trend of cross-country crime, facilitated by the Internet.

Criminal groups can now recruit skilled programmers abroad to help commit organized theft. Hacking, fraud and identity theft, are quite common but utilizing Arab and Middle Eastern talents to carry out such attacks in America and Europe is a new development.

A statement by the FBI includes gratitude to law enforcement partners in the U.S. and the Egyptian government's dedicated cooperation.

This shows that, in the Internet age, borders cease to exist among countries, and that the only way to uphold the rule of law is cooperation.

This breaking story has placed the spotlight on growing Internet-related crime in the region, and you can expect to read more about this topic as international cyber crime evolves. It’s an eye-opener, and an opportunity to start monitoring Internet-related crime in our region.

zanasser@gmail.com

Twit-iquette

Now that Twitter is taking off in Jordan, and across the Arab World, it may be a good time to establish some form of Twitter etiquette, regarding what to tweet and how many times!

Twitter is a tool that means different things to different people.
Teenagers create an account, follow their friends, get followed by them, and then report every minute detail of there lives so everyone knows what’s happening.
Young adults do a bit of that, but mostly Twitter about something they saw, or read or that happened to them. Many of them use it to congratulate one another on occasions and so on.

Users in the 21+ range do a bit of both of the above, but add in ‘marketing Tweets’ which are about their achievements, careers, products and services they offer. In that sense, Twitter is mainly a self promotion tool for them. They also look at it as a ‘networking’ and ‘introduction’ tool to show others that they are interested in knowing more about them- by following them.

So, with all of these different motives behind Tweeting, it’s no surprise my Tweet Deck applications keeps buzzing with incoming tweets.

Accordingly, I wish people stuck to a general guideline of Twitter etiquette, which won’t only be a relief for people tried of their countless, meaningless messages but will also help them maintain their public image.

For starters, don't say something that makes you look like an idiot. Only Tweet about topic you understand, and conduct yourself on Twitter as you would socially in the real world. After all, it’s a ‘social network’.

Don't overly criticize someone or something which will go on public record as your position, making you look like a total hypocrite when you change your position about that person or thing.

For example, government employees in the US are advised not to Tweet, or re-Tweet, news or analysis that may reflect their political position.
Journalists of the Washington Post have received clear instructions from management to “refrain from writing, tweeting or posting anything that could be perceived as reflecting racial, sexist, religious or other bias or favoritism. Because that would tarnish the newspapers journalistic credibility."

And, be careful who you follow because it reflects your interests and general principles.

So, as you can see, Twitter is not all fun and games.

It’s a communication tool which could cause serious damage to your image or that of the organization you represent. To sum up, think before you Tweet. It does not take the fun out of it, it just takes out the potential damage!

zanasser@gmail.com