14 DAY TRIAL // US authorities have charged more than sixty individuals suspected of involvement in an international fraud operation that was centered around a computer trojan known as Zbot.
More information about the charges is expected to be revealed by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. in a news conference scheduled for later today.
However, according to the Wall Street Journal, there is a strong reason to believe that the investigation is related to the arrest of nineteen Eastern European fraud suspects earlier this week in UK.
The publication cites an unnamed source familiar with the probe, according to whom, the New York Police Department has recently arrested several individuals believed to have acted as money mules in the scheme.
The New York FBI office has apparently confirmed that nine people were arrested in the New York area and another one has been detained elsewhere in U.S.
The arrests have been kept under wraps in order to avoid tipping off the UK branch of the operation, who's members are possibly the leaders.
ZBot, also known as ZeuS, is a sophisticated computer trojan specifically designed to steal online banking credentials, financial data and other sensitive information.
For the past two years, the trojan has been used to steal millions of dollars from the bank accounts of businesses, public institutions and non-profit organizations.
Fraudsters usually transfer money from the compromised accounts to others belonging to people who are paid to act as intermediaries. These individuals are called money mules.
"It's good to see the US and UK authorities working closely to fight the growing problem of cybercrime," Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at Sophos, said.
"Those involved in the internet's criminal underworld may be becoming more organised and international in nature, but they are in danger of learning that the good guys are also co-operating more closely than ever before," he added.