Threat Management

Nearly 20 individuals, orgs charged over brokerage account hijacking

SecurityWeek reports that 18 shell organizations and individuals have been charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for their involvement in a pump-and-dump scheme that leveraged account hijacking. More than 30 U.S. retail brokerage accounts have been hacked by the individuals and companies as part of the scheme, which raked in $1.3 million in illicit proceeds, said the SEC in a compliant filed last week. The SEC noted that the shares of common stock from Good Gaming, Inc., and Lotus Bio-Technology Development Corp., have been purchased by the defendants, who then leveraged the hacked accounts to artificially raise stock prices. "Our complaint details a brazen and sophisticated scheme, with hackers using international accounts and dummy account holders to hide their tracks. As this case demonstrates, the Division can uncover misconduct even when it crosses borders and is concealed behind multiple layers of obfuscation," said SEC Director Nekia Hackworth Jones.

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