In an announcement, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) announced the arrest of five Chinese nationals and one Singaporean for allegedly engaging in illicit cyber activities within the country and that they had been arrested.
As a result of a series of raids taking place simultaneously at several locations in the city of Chicago on September 9, 2024, a group of about 160 law enforcement officials concluded they had carried out a successful operation.
Six men ranging in age from 32 to 42 are suspected of being associated with a cyber-crime syndicate that is implicated in malicious activities perpetrated via the internet.
The operation led to the seizure of electronic devices and cash as a result of the operations.
Following coordinated raids on Monday, the Singapore Police Force took notice of a cybercrime syndicate that has been operating globally and arrested six members as part of the operation. There are five Chinese nationals and one Singaporean among the suspects who are accused of illegal cyber activities. This is one of the largest such busts ever to occur in the region.
In a precision raid that targeted multiple locations across the country, the Singapore Police Force mobilized 160 officers in a value-added operation.
It is important to note the involvement of the Criminal Investigation Department, Police Intelligence Department, Special Operations Command, and Internal Security Department in this operation.
Authorities have arrested six men with whom they suspect they are members of an international cybercrime syndicate which is responsible for various malicious cyber activities including hacking, the theft of personal information as well as crimes related to cryptocurrency.
There was also the seizure of hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of electronic devices, cash, and cryptocurrency assets, as part of the arrests and the seizure of these individuals.
Among the other Chinese nationals who were arrested on Mount Sinai Avenue were three others who were said to have laptops that contained personal information relating to foreign internet service providers as well as hacking tools, and software to control malware such as PlugX, which is a remote access Trojan widely used by Chinese state-sponsored groups, and specialized software to control malware.
There were also seven laptops, and 11 mobile phones seized as well as cash worth more than S$54,600 (USD41,900) seized from the three defendants.
There was also another arrest on Cairnhill Road of a Chinese national, 38, you have been detained on suspicion of being a fraudster by offering to sell personally identifiable information that has been acquired illegally.
As far as we know, the sixth individual who has been identified is a Singaporean national who resides on Hougang Avenue and is considered to have assisted others in their malicious activities.
Several accused persons have been charged with computer misuse under the Computer Misuse Act 1993, which prohibits unauthorized access to computer material, the retention of personal information without authorization, and the possession of computer software that could be used to conduct other malicious activities.
RATs (Remote Access Trojans) are malware programs that hackers use to access a compromised system from another location.
The activity has been associated with several cyber-espionage campaigns attributed to Chinese threat actors, particularly in cyber espionage activities considered state-sponsored hacking activities in China, since 2008.
APT10 (Stone Panda), APT41 (Winnti), and Mustang Panda have been identified as three of the most recognized Chinese advanced threat actors using PlugX in their cyber operations.
As a result, Singaporean authorities do not specify which threat group the men may be associated with whom they are believed to represent.
As a result of the Police's ongoing investigation into their local network of contacts, along with their links to a global syndicate, all six men will be taken into custody and kept on remand for further investigation, according to Singapore's authorities.
The suspects are believed to have engaged in global cybercriminal activities originating from Singapore. During the police operation, a range of devices were seized, along with stolen personal data from individuals residing outside Singapore.
Investigators also uncovered multiple hacking tools, including software capable of controlling malware, such as PlugX. Furthermore, approximately $850,000 in cryptocurrency, suspected to be tied to the illegal operations, was confiscated.
