"The BADBOX 2.0 botnet compromised over 10 million uncertified devices running Android's open-source software (Android Open Source Project), which lacks Google's security protections."
Zelocchi documented every threat and handed evidence to U.S. Marshals, refusing to cave to the cybercriminals who sought to eliminate him and steal his Bitcoin wallet.
At the time, the FBI recognized there was a significant need to shift their hiring practices to really focus on people with cyber skill sets, because it wasn't just about cybercrime, but also terrorism, counter intelligence and criminal investigations. We needed agents who had more of a technical discipline to help with that.
The syndicate operated call centers designed to appear as legitimate customer service centers, through which victims were deceived into believing that their electronic devices were compromised.
"Americans lose billions of dollars annually to these cyber scams, with revenues generated from these crimes rising to record levels in 2024," reads a statement from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.