[Tangokat]

Can someone explain how they get the money out? I understand that they hack a company, send themselves money to a bank in China... and then? Can't the chinese just trace the money and go tell the bank to give it back? Do they use money mules to get the money in cash, if so how do they distribute it to the many members?

[rwmurrayVT]

The 'money-mules' are typically tricked into allowing them to deposit funds into their bank accounts. If you open a brand new bank account you are subjected to holding periods for deposits/transfers. If you trick an existing bank customer into depositing, withdrawing, and then MG/WU/MoneyPak a portion of the funds to you then you can do it in 1 business day.

A common variation of this in the USA is with check fraud. They trick unsuspecting people into mobile depositing a check and then transferring a % of the funds back to them. I suspect in the Russian scam they are using the botnet to imitate victims as a sock5. They have all the information they need so they just initiate a trade and then block their access to email+banking+??.

[jay-saint]

The article references recruiting Money Mules. These are typically people hired or coerced into using cloned bank cards to withdraw cash from ATMs.

[Cthulhu_]

Yeah, and either those get no punishment at all - because they're considered victims - or a light punishment. They can't link back to whoever gave them the orders either.