Eleven people pleaded guilty to participating in a $65 million money laundering operation in which prosecutors say Chinese nationals in the U.S. worked with scam call centers in India to steal millions from elderly Americans.
SAN DIEGO (CN) — Eleven people pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday to their involvement in a $65 million multinational money laundering scheme that targeted elderly victims across the U.S.
Lead defendant Hua Wang, 48, spearheaded the money laundering scheme that involved more than two dozen co-defendants across the U.S., according to a press release from the Department of Justice.
The criminal network began in 2019 and was rooted in Southern California where the fraudsters, primarily Chinese nationals in the U.S. illegally, worked closely with scam call centers based in India, according to the Justice Department. The scammers posed as technical support…
IT & DATA SECURITY (MITIGATING THE “INSIDER THREAT”)
As seen in the TD Bank case, an employee with too much “access” can sell your customer data to syndicates.
- Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP): Employees should only have access to the specific folders and databases required for their current task.
- Access Revocation: Have a “Termination Checklist” that ensures all digital access (Email, VPN, Banking) is revoked within 60 minutes of an employee resigning or being dismissed.
- System Logs & Audit Trails: Enable “Read/Write Logging” on your server. If a customer’s data is leaked, you need to know exactly which login accessed that record and at what time.
- Encryption at Rest: Ensure that sensitive files (like your customer ID numbers or payroll spreadsheets) are encrypted so that if a staff member copies them to a USB, they cannot be read.