If you have had your credit number stolen or run an online business that ships products, you have likely been a victim.
Now, one of the largest cyber crime outfits has been hacked and exposed - the Russia-based ‘SWAT USA Drop Service’ that has around 1,200 people across the U.S. - was involved in reshipping expensive consumer goods purchased with stolen credit cards.
How have they been doing it? As many business that have been a victim can attest - they use the cash from stolen credit cards and then purchase high price-point electronics, etc online and then resell on the black market.
This crime ring use ‘drops’ some knowingly involved, some duped. These ‘drops’ would respond to package reshipping jobs posted on craigslist, etc - where they would promise these ‘drops’ a monthly salary. But, in the end, the criminals running this operation would then stop communicating with the ‘dops’ right before they would get their first paycheck - usually about a month after the drop ships their first package.
The items shipped used prepaid shipping labels (paid for by using stolen credit cards) . The ‘drops’ would then verify the contents of shipments, attaching the correct shipping label and then send on to the shipping company.
This is where it gets complicated: as per Krebs, “for example - a stuffer buys a stolen payment card off the black market for $10, and uses that card to purchase more than $1,100 worth of goods. After the reshipping service takes its cut ($550), and the stuffer pays for his reshipping label ~$100), the stuffer receives the stolen goods and then sells them on the black market in Russia for $1,400. This participant just turned a $10 investment into more than $700”
The identity of this criminal group’s principal owner - is called Fearess, a.k.a. ‘SwatVerified.’
For ‘Part 2’ of this story - stay tuned!
Source: ‘Krebs on Security’ - https://krebsonsecurity.com/2023/11/russian-reshipping-service-swat-usa-drop-exposed/
