The U.S. Treasury on Tuesday sanctioned three Chinese individuals and three Thai companies for involvement in a cybercrime network that it said made bomb threats and fraudulent applications for COVID-related aid, costing the government billions of dollars.
The individuals and the Thai-based companies were sanctioned for activities related to 911 S5 botnet, a service that compromised computers and resulted in cybercrimes being traced back to victims' computers instead of the perpetrators' devices, the Treasury said.
"These individuals leveraged their malicious botnet technology to compromise personal devices, enabling cybercriminals to fraudulently secure economic assistance intended for those in need and to terrorize our citizens with bomb threats," said the Treasury under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brian Nelson.
The IP addresses compromised were linked to a number of bomb threats made across the United States in July 2022, according to the release.
Reuters was not immediately able to seek comment from the sanctioned entities or individuals.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
'No Safety, No Duty': OPD Services Hit By Nationwide Doctors' Protest
US Judge Says "Monopolist" Google Can't Avoid App Store Reforms Huawei’s Upcoming Tri-Fold Smartphone Tipped to Carry a Hefty Price Tag at Launch US Navy's Newest Air-To-Air Missile Could Tilt Balance In South China Sea 150 mg Semen In Kolkata Doctor's Body, Suspect Gang-Rape: Parents To Court Trump, Musk Groove To Bee Gees' 'Stayin' Alive' In AI-Video Now Viral Starbucks' Indian-Origin CEO, Recently Fired, Never Worked Past 6 pm US Judge Says "Monopolist" Google Can't Avoid App Store Reforms NASA To Decide Stranded Starliner Astronauts' Route Home By End Of Month Mob Vandalises Hospital During Protest Over Kolkata Horror Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.