US arrests alleged thief of $6 billion in COVID aid

A Chinese national was stopped by the US Treasury Department for allegedly using 911 S5, a service that has for many years been the cheapest and easiest way to send emails through malware-infected machines.

YunHe Wang, 35, allegedly offered free VPN programs that installed malware on millions of Windows PCs and exploited those computers to operate a botnet and provide access to cybercriminals. according to the Department of Justice.

The DOJ statement claims that 911 S5 customers may have targeted certain COVID-19 relief programs. It says 560,000 fraudulent unemployment insurance claims came from compromised IP addresses, resulting in a loss of more than $5.9 billion to the United States.

The DOJ has not explained how Wang, who is also a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis and owns property in the United States, was arrested. The same day of his arrest, the US Treasury Department announced the arrest of two of his associates and the sanction of four companies supporting the 911 S5.

Wang is accused to infect Windows PCs with MaskVPN, DewVPN, Shine VPN, and ProxyGate as early as 2011. Federal officials say the resulting botnet may be the largest ever created. It has access to 19 million IP addresses in almost 200 countries, of which approximately 613,841 are based in the United States.

Using 911 S5, Wang could have sold access to the botnet, allowing cybercriminals to carry out a range of hacking activities, including financial fraud, cyberstalking, bomb threats and access to child pornography.

“Since 2014, 911 S5 has allegedly allowed cybercriminals to bypass financial fraud detection systems and steal billions of dollars from financial institutions, credit card issuers, and federal loan programs,” the DOJ said.

Wang reportedly ran the company until 2022, earning at least $99 million from the proxy service by operating 150 servers worldwide. He was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, substantial wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.