SAN ANTONIO — The Federal Bureau of Investigations has unsealed an indictment surrounding a global malware attack in which there could be victims in San Antonio and other parts of Texas.
The FBI is urging victims to visit raccoon.ic3.gov to see whether their email address was stolen in the Raccoon Infostealer attack. Officials said the attack was an email phishing campaign that sent victims a link. Victims who clicked on the link could possibly have been affected. The attack affected computers from 2018-2022.
Information that could have been stolen are email addresses, identification numbers, bank account information and cryptocurrency information, according to the FBI. Over 50 million credentials have been stolen and victims have been identified in the San Antonio area.
The suspect, Mark Sokolovsky, is a citizen of Ukraine but was arrested in the Netherlands and is facing four charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, aggravated identity theft and computer fraud and abuse act.
"We know this crime has touched millions," U.S. attorney Ashley C. Hoff said. Officials said the FBI has identified more than 50 million credentials, however the full scope of how many people affected was not yet known.
Special Agent Oliver Rich said if your email address has been stolen, the FBI will let you know. Once you input your email into the FBI website, they will send you an email letting you know your email address has been stolen. If that happens, you should then visit the FBI crime complaint center ic3.gov. and share any personal info regarding personal damages or loss suffered.
Law enforcement agencies world wide have been helping in the investigation. Hoff adding, "Hiding behind a keyboard does not grant them to impunity to prey on our citizens."
To prevent yourself from falling victim to malware attacks, officials say do not open emails from unknown sources or click on links from unverified sources, use multi-factor authentication and create strong passwords and change them frequently.