A $50,000 bounty supposedly issued by Europol to assist observe down directors of the Russian-based ransomware gang Qilin was really only a Telegram rip-off.
The pair supposedly “coordinate affiliates and oversee extortion activities,” and Europol needed info that “directly leads to the identification or location of these administrators.”
Nonetheless, Europol confirmed to SecurityWeek that the supposed reward was a “scam” and that the company by no means introduced the bounty.
Not solely that, the one social media channels run by Europol could be discovered on Fb, Instagram, Bluesky, X, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
SecurityWeek notes {that a} rival gang might have created the faux bounty to break a rival’s fame, steal their associates, or create paranoia inside the gang.
Qilin assaults nationwide safety for crypto
Qilin is a distinguished ransomware gang that extorts crypto, together with bitcoin and monero, by its ransomware-as-a-service.
In March this yr, Qilin claimed to have stolen and bought knowledge together with “private correspondence, personal information, decrees etc,” from the Ukrainian Ministry of Overseas Affairs.
It’s additionally focused hospitals in London and printed stolen affected person knowledge, claiming that it shouldn’t be blamed for its actions.
One Qilin member informed BBC reporter Joe Tidy, “We are very sorry for the people who were suffered because of it. Herewith we don’t consider ourselves guilty and we ask you don’t blame us in this situation.”
The group as an alternative claimed it attacked hospitals in retaliation for the UK’s position in an unspecified struggle.
Qilin reportedly doesn’t assault nations inside the Commonwealth of Impartial States, together with Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Moldova, and its associates take house 80% of ransom funds beneath $3 million.
