cybercriminals calling themselves the BianLian hacker collective are using regular mail to blackmail business executives for the first time in the US The FBI has warned of a new blackmail scheme in which victims are asked to pay between $250,000 and $500,000 in Bitcoin.
The scammers send an email marked “urgent, open immediately” to a return address that supposedly belongs to the “BianLian Group” in Boston. The email states that the cybercriminals have hacked the victim’s corporate network and stolen confidential files. Victims are given 10 days to pay, after which, according to the scammers, the data will be posted on the darknet. The FBI has not yet confirmed a connection between the senders of these emails and the real BianLian group, known for its attacks on infrastructure facilities in the US and Australia.
The BianLian group emerged in June 2022 and initially engaged in a dual blackmail scheme – data theft and system encryption. However, the group has recently abandoned encryption, focusing only on data theft and disclosure if a ransom is not paid. BianLian has carried out about 140 attacks in the past 12 months, including on Nippon Steel, Air Canada and the University of Tennessee. Hackers usually gain access to victims through stolen RDP accounts and install backdoors for long-term control.
Scammers are adapting to new attack methods, this time moving from digital threats to physical emails, and the FBI is urging people to ignore scammers’ demands, not pay the ransom and report such incidents to law enforcement.
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