24-year-old Zain Qaiser has been jailed for six years and five months after a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation. The Brit was a member of an international organised crime group, according to the NCA.
Qaiser bought advertising space on porn websites and used malicious malware to lock a user's browser when they clicked the corrupted link. Once locked, the user's screen would show a message — allegedly from a law enforcement agency — accusing them of committing a crime and demanding a fine of anything between $300-$1,000 in order to unlock their device.
A cyber criminal who targeted millions of computers with locking ransomware has been jailed for over six years. Qaiser received more than £700,000 through his financial accounts for his role in this global campaign of malware and blackmail. Full story: https://t.co/OWdciHHtYY pic.twitter.com/ai6OuI5ozF
— NationalCrimeAgency (@NCA_UK) April 9, 2019
Nigel Leary, NCA senior investigating officer, described Qaiser's actions as one of the "most sophisticated, serious and organised cyber crime groups the National Crime Agency has ever investigated."
"The group owned and operated the Angler Exploit Kit — one of the most successful and closely guarded pieces of malicious software ever developed by the cyber crime community. Zain Qaiser was an integral part of this organised crime group generating millions of pounds in ransom payments by blackmailing countless victims and threatening them with bogus police investigations," the NCA officer said.
Qaiser would get the payments through a complex process of virtual and crypto-currency money laundering. The cybercriminal would spend his earnings on prostitutes, gambling and luxury items, as he remained unemployed and a tenant at his parents' home.
He was first arrested in July 2014 and was charged in February 2017. Qaiser admitted to 11 offences, including blackmail, fraud, money laundering and computer misuse, and was jailed at Kingston Crown Court.
This was an extremely long-running, complex cyber-crime investigation in which we worked with partners in the US, Canada, Europe and @cpsuk The investigation demonstrates that cyber-criminals cannot operate from behind a veil of anonymity… https://t.co/KSojwkGGOp
— NationalCrimeAgency (@NCA_UK) April 9, 2019
