Vigilantes Attack Scam Web Sites

This week saw two groups called the 419 Flash Mob and Artists Against 419, attack fake bank web sites that hope to lure victims to deposit money there.

The hoped to target networks that operate ‘419 scams‘, also known as advance fee fraud, send out e-mails, letters and faxes asking for help to recover a large sum of money from a bank, in return for a share of the loot. Some of these scammers have moved on to run their own fake banking Web sites.

The 419 Flash Mob attempted to recruit as many people as possible to launch denial-of-service attacks on spammers’ bandwidth and report them to their web hosts and to legal authorities. Web sites with the following banks names were attacked: Abbey Trust & Offshore Bank; First Global Trust; Allied Trust Bank UK; Crystal Bonds & Securities; Kash Bank Corp.; Liberty Stronghold Securities and Finance; and BBVA Finance & Clearinghouse.

According to Artists Against 419′s Web site, "This flash mob is in celebration of Chinese New Year!"

CNET Article
via Smart Mobs