♪ ♪
MARIANA: What's that stuff?
PRIMO: Little bit of fentanyl.
This (bleep) is blowing up. These are eight-balls.
This is the trap, baby.
Little Havana.
MARIANA: Is this where you're making most of your money or?
PRIMO: Hell no. This (bleep) is a thing of the past.
PRIMO: I ain't got time for that.
So, what we did is we started scamming.
MARIANA: Scamming, credit card fraud, and ID theft are all
part of a booming cybercrime industry around the world.
LIGHT: I'm buying audio equipment, I'm using a stolen
credit card.
MARIANA: Most don't even realize they're targets
until it's too late.
JESSICA: I've had $300,000 that has been taken from me.
MARIANA: Our data has become a commodity more valuable than
guns, gold, or drugs.
CATALIN: We'll have hackers targeting large companies,
corporations, and obviously, critical infrastructure.
MARIANA: I want to know how our data is stolen, how it's sold,
and how to find the shadowy band of hustlers
and hackers responsible.
The threat is much bigger than I ever realized.
JOHN SMITH: If you're smart about it, you can't get caught.
MARIANA: What? Do you think he's suspicious or what?
ABEL: I'll talk to him again.
MARIANA: I'm in Miami chasing down a tip about
a new breed of criminals.
ABEL: Now he's acting a little funny.
I'm still talking to him now, but.
MARIANA: He's just not sure if he wants to meet us anymore?
ABEL: Yeah, like, he's saying he's late.
He wants to do it tomorrow.
MARIANA: Abel is a former gang member who served
three years in jail.
He's also a friend and a source that I can call
in moments like this.
I'd heard rumors that street gangs were getting into
credit card and identity theft,
and Abel has been asking around for me.
We were on our way to meet one of his contacts we'll call 'Primo'.
But he's gotten cold feet.
ABEL: He's just nervous or something because.
MARIANA: Do you think it would be a good idea to FaceTime with him?
ABEL: Yeah, definitely. MARIANA: So he could see...
ABEL: I mean, that could build trust.
(phone ringing)
MARIANA: Can you see me?
PRIMO (over phone): Yeah. I see you.
(bleep) is real, you know?
I can't have people getting indicted over this.
MARIANA: Got it.
So this is the deal, so this is how we do it.
We don't show your face.
We cover any tattoos, or any identifiable features that
you have and we also change your voice
so that it's not recognizable.
So yeah, that's what I can tell you.
The hardest part of my job is getting people to trust me.
It can take weeks, months, sometimes even years.
PRIMO (over phone): All right, yeah.
MARIANA: But sometimes we get lucky fast.
Yeah.
He said, he said, "yeah." He's down to film tomorrow.
He said I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing this for, for
Abel and if Abel is cool with this, I'm cool.
I know he's not going to set me up.
Let's hope it happens tomorrow.
As we wait for the meeting with Primo, Abel takes me to
see another friend of his, who apparently dabbles
in the credit card game.
Can you show me some of the stuff that you do?
BECCA: Absolutely. And so, to the dark web.
MARIANA: Becca is a self-taught scammer whose
husband was a gang member.
She agreed to give me a primer on how it all works.
BECCA: You can buy arms, you can buy legs, you can buy
elephant tusk, you can buy digital goods.
MARIANA: Becca uses a browser that hides her identity,
making it possible for her to visit more nefarious websites
normally unavailable to internet users.
And where do you get that credit card information?
BECCA: We have several markets.
MARIANA: Vice City is the name of the market?
BECCA: Yeah, that's the name of the market.
I know how cliche, right?
MARIANA: Valid dumps.
BECCA: Comes with the date of birth.
MARIANA: Uh-huh.
BECCA: ZIP code, so you know where the card is from,
where the billing address is.
MARIANA: Uh-huh. Wow. This is so crazy.
BECCA: And then look at an example, if it doesn't work, they give you your money back.
MARIANA: No, they don't.
BECCA: Yes, they do immediately.
Immediately.
Look, right here.
MARIANA: So you can buy this for only $8?
BECCA: Yeah. Oh, you could buy them for three cents.
MARIANA: My, my mind is exploding right now.
Site after site, the dark web is like a strip mall of
stolen credit card data, where everything from security codes
to ZIP codes are available for resale.
BECCA: Carding is the act of using other people's
credit card info, you know, to buy stuff or obtain goods.
It starts with prepaid cards.
That's an MSR. It can read, write, erase.
And then I'm going to clone this information onto it.
MARIANA: Becca uses the MSR machine to encode the stolen
credit card data onto the magnetic strip of the new
burner debit card.
BECCA: So I'm going to go for that one.
He probably went to a restaurant and somebody hacked
into their POS, whatever.
MARIANA: Steven, I apologize.
BECCA: It's okay. It's corporate.
Don't worry about it. The bank will give it back.
So now, let's make a card.
Bam, credit card okay.
Let's go test this on the vending machine.
Because I don't want to get caught.
MARIANA: To check if the card works, she needs to do a
test run where no one will catch her, in case it doesn't.
This is the moment of truth.
BECCA: There you go.
MARIANA: I don't know if I want to do that.
So now you know that you can actually use this card?
BECCA: Absolutely.
MARIANA: Tonight there's a guy or a woman somewhere who's
missing $1, and tomorrow will possibly be missing
a lot more.
So tomorrow you're going to go shopping with this?
BECCA: Yeah, definitely.
MARIANA: The next day, Becca invites me to follow her
downtown as she tries to use the card in a store.
So, what kind of shops do you typically target?
BECCA: Local, smaller, family owned shops versus corporate,
big, giant Walmarts and stuff.
MARIANA: Why is that preferable?
BECCA: Because way less security.
My thing is everywhere you go, there's a camera.
That's my fear.
You have to look normal, casual.
MARIANA: Do you ever buy anything with a regular credit card, by any chance?
Or is it all stolen?
BECCA: Yeah.
Steal what you can't buy, buy what you can't steal.
MARIANA: Becca says she never knows how long a stolen
credit card will remain active.
It depends on how quickly the owner, or the bank,
spots the fraudulent activity.
BECCA: What I'm going to do is I'm going to, you know,
look around, see what I find.
Oh, my son would probably love one of those book bags.
MARIANA: So you don't feel comfortable with me going inside, so I'll...
BECCA: I don't think for your own good you should
go in there with me.
MARIANA: I'll stay here. Um, I would say good luck,
but I'm not sure if that's the appropriate thing to say right now.
BECCA: You should. Because, um, God forbid,
you know, like, something that comes up.
MARIANA: Oh, now you're making me nervous.
BECCA: You should be nervous.
It's always 50/50, it's a lottery.
You never know if it's going to work, if it's not going to work.
I'll be right back.
MARIANA: We can actually see right through the shop,
so I will be able, we'll be able to see her inside.
MARIANA: I don't want to look, I don't want to look suspicious, like, we're looking at her.
SHOPKEEPER: Uh.
BECCA: Well, yeah.
MARIANA: So I think she's having trouble with the card right now.
MARIANA: Here she comes.
BECCA: I have returned with my plunder.
MARIANA: They weren't suspicious?
BECCA: No, the other way around, they were trying to help me pay for the (bleep).
They were like, "thank you."
Like, literally you help them help you steal.
MARIANA: Guy who's at home who just lost...
BECCA: No. Hell no. MARIANA: Yeah. But it's, yeah.
But it doesn't, well, I would be angry if it was me.
BECCA: It's a yin and yang. You give some, you take some.
Unless you have, like, a really good education and a
good job, it's just, you can't afford (bleep).
The bigger the stakes are, the bigger the transactions are,
the bigger they're going to come after you.
MARIANA: So that's why you keep it to small transactions.
BECCA: Yeah, definitely.
MARIANA: Oh, my God. I can't believe how easy that was.
Data has now surpassed oil
as the world's most valuable resource.
Worldwide, in 2020 alone,
thieves ran off with more than $28 billion.
It can start with a notification for a single fraudulent charge.
For most, getting that money refunded is
just an inconvenience.
But for a growing number of victims,
the situation escalates quickly.
TIM: At the time, I thought it was a one and done sort of deal.
I've probably had upwards of 25 debit and credit cards
compromised and stolen.
DAVE: It's a really scary thing when you don't know
if the money in your bank account is not going to
be there when you log in next.
JESSICA: At least every month, maybe 2 to 15 transactions
that happen randomly that aren't mine.
TIM: I felt powerless.
They just had access to all of my life savings.
DAVE: People don't always get their money back.
SAMUEL: One thing impacted the next, impacted the next, and
it just kept snowballing.
DAVE: I have no idea when it will end or if it will end.
TIM: I'm a current student.
JESSICA: I work in mental health.
DAVE: I'm in the IT area.
SAMUEL: I am a dancer, teacher, choreographer.
MARIANA: Credit card fraud exploded in 2020,
increasing more than 40%.
The ease and anonymity of the crime has drawn the attention
of street gangs, like the Crips, who used to make their
money in more dangerous ways.
PRIMO: So, have a seat, have a seat.
MARIANA: Here?
PRIMO: Scoot over, man. It's a lady.
MARIANA: Thank you.
So we, can I ask you for a quick question?
Does that gun always have to be here?
MARIANA: This is Primo, who I spoke with on the phone last night.
Do you guys have guns?
PRIMO: Everybody here got a gun.
MARIANA: So how many guns are in this house right now?
Just give me a sense.
PRIMO: (bleep) You sound like ATF right now.
MARIANA: Do you want me to stop asking these questions?
PRIMO: Yeah.
♪ ♪
MARIANA: So you're talking about scamming and fraud.
Are you guys all involved in this?
PRIMO: I'd tell you right now that that scamming (bleep) is
pretty much the main market to be in right now if you want to make money.
You want to stay out of trouble.
MARIANA: There's no risk associated with scams?
PROJECT FO: You got people getting life sentences and
getting charged with murder for fentanyl.
You'll get five years doing this game right here.
So, what's the easier ballpark to be in?
This, easy money.
PRIMO: So, what we did is, uh, we started a Scamily.
You know what I'm saying?
That's a family that scams. You feel me?
MARIANA: You said it was a Scamily?
PRIMO: That's my little saying.
I would like to call us a Scamily.
You know, you got to chase the B.O.A.
We treat you better than your family.
MARIANA: Each member of the 'Scamily' specializes in a
different skillset.
PROJECT FO: I'm the phone guy.
MARIANA: You're the phone guy?
PROJECT FO: Yeah.
PRIMO: This is the, this is the prince of Nigeria telling
you to send the money.
Send you a little text.
"Your, your, your bank's been hacked. This is Chase Bank."
MARIANA: Yeah, I've received these things.
PRIMO: "Sending you an online alert. Please sign-in."
And you sign in through there, you got got.
The old school way: stealing information and (bleep).
We realized we don't need that.
People give you the information.
Jwett got his own ways.
He a real good computer guy.
PRIMO: Jwett go, "Doot, doot, doot, doot, doo."
Next thing you know, I got someone's money in that card.
MARIANA: How much money are you guys making from fraud or scams?
PRIMO: Depends, really. Sometimes, it's good days.
Sometimes, it's bad days.
Sometimes, it's really good days.
You feel me? Like....
MARIANA: Today, for example. PRIMO: (bleep).
MARIANA: Did you get anything? PRIMO: Yeah, yeah.
Today I made a quick, like, $9,000, but it's been a.
MARIANA: What? $9,000? PRIMO: Yeah.
MARIANA: So, do you guys ever feel bad that you're stealing
money from other people?
PRIMO: Not at all.
Under a quarter million, the bank pays that (bleep) back.
Why would I feel bad? I mean.
MARIANA: But you're still stealing from somebody.
It's still not your money.
So is there part of that, do you guys get upset about that?
PRIMO: Look. Look, look.
I did time for robbery and all this (bleep).
I tell you, I feel bad about that sometimes.
You know, that's not such a victimless crime.
You putting a gun to somebody, you, you really traumatizing
somebody, you feel me?
This scamming (bleep) is, "Ah, man, (bleep).
This (bleep) stole $800 from my account."
You'll be all right in the morning.
MARIANA: Hmm. PRIMO: You'll be all right.
SAMUEL: It's not a victimless crime.
There are victims. I'm a victim.
I told the bank that money had been fraudulently taken
from my account.
It was obvious that the bank did not believe me.
Honesty, I don't think a real investigation ever took place.
My economic background plays a part.
The way I look could play a part.
Whether I have 10 million or whether I have $10,
it shouldn't make a difference in terms of how I'm treated.
MARIANA: The 'Scamily's' operation is just the tip of the iceberg.
We've heard rumors that there are gangs engaging in
even more ambitious scams.
Through my sources, a member of the Crips, who we'll call
"Light," agrees to speak with me.
Light has invited me to see the trap house where the gang
dabbles in both the old school methods and the new ones.
MARIANA: What do you have here?
MARIANA: And what, what's this?
MARIANA: So what is, what is this place, where we are?
MARIANA: So, we have drugs, we have guns.
Do you have other guns in the house as well?
MARIANA: And this is where you are doing your business from?
MARIANA: So, I know that this is your place and we have to
get your permission to film here.
Right?
Are you okay with us filming here?
MARIANA: Can you show me that?
MARIANA: At a table with three guns and one laptop,
Light says he'll show me how he made six figures last year.
LIGHT: That's one deposit.
MARIANA: Wow. That's a lot of money.
♪ ♪
MARIANA: I'm in the backroom of a Miami trap house, where a
Crips gang member named 'Light' is showing me the
gang's latest hustle.
LIGHT: Do you see this from IDS?
Which means Chicago unemployment.
That's unemployed, but I don't live in Chicago.
I'm in Florida.
MARIANA: Light creates a fake insurance claim using the
victim's real Social Security number and birthday.
This is more than simple credit card fraud.
I'm watching him steal somebody's identity.
LIGHT: All you have to do is use a VPN.
Put your VPN on.
MARIANA: And you pretend that you're in Chicago.
LIGHT: You live in Florida, but your VPN acts like you're
in Chicago on Walnut Street.
MARIANA: A VPN or virtual private network disguises your
online identity by encrypting your connection to a network.
Once a VPN is activated, tracking the location of your
device becomes far more difficult.
LIGHT: You're going to find any random address from Chicago.
You're going to put that address that you find on the
same application that you're filling out the IDS unemployment form
and say that you live at this address you found.
You don't ever have to worry about mail getting sent to you,
or receiving it, because everything is through direct deposit.
MARIANA: Were people making a lot of money from the COVID
assistance programs?
LIGHT: I don't know about people, but I know me.
MARIANA: So that's a...
LIGHT: This is (bleep) crazy.
MARIANA: $19,314.
But you're taking it away from somebody else.
How does that make you feel?
LIGHT: It's a dog eat dog world.
I'd rather you, than me.
Them or us.
And I'm not going to let my kids suffer.
JESSICA: I've never collected unemployment before or disability.
I owe EDD, the state, disability,
Social Security, money.
$60,000 to one of them, another $84,000 to another.
MARIANA: Jessica is a mental healthcare worker who
specializes in people experiencing homelessness.
She's one of nearly 400,000 people whose identities were
used to claim government benefits in 2020.
JESSICA: And I've been telling my bank since September 2020
about the fraud.
And I probably call them on a daily basis.
I don't have my own identity, meaning nothing's mine.
If I want groceries or something, nine times out of ten
it's going to take me a half an hour to get through
the register, because something's not working,
or the money's not there and,
and I've had more taken out, somehow.
I have to renew my passport, my driver's license,
my Social Security card, my birth certificate.
That all costs money.
Right now, my bank account, I'm negative $3,000 and it's
been since January.
I think if it ever ends,
which I don't know if it will, um,
it's gonna be a long recovery to trust people.
MARIANA: This is Assistant Special Agent Charles Leopard.
His department is dedicated to catching data thieves before
stolen information ends up for sale on the dark web.
LEOPARD: So, in this room, this is part of our
computer forensics lab.
This is an example of what we commonly find in gas pumps.
This would be what we call more of an overlay skimmer.
They would replace the card reader that's currently there.
We call this a shimmer and these were designed to go into
an existing card reader.
MARIANA: Agent Leopard and his team show us how older methods
of theft are constantly being updated.
INVESTIGATOR: More and more of these skimmers are
Bluetooth enabled.
The reason behind that is that you have the individuals that
now don't have to go back in and take the skimmer
off the gas pump.
OFFICER: Good morning everybody.
Thank you for being here today.
We're going to be briefing in regards to the arrest of a
known large-scale trafficker of stolen credit card account
numbers obtained from illegally placed credit card
skimming devices at gasoline pumps.
LEOPARD: Now, we'll just have them park there and tell them
to just hang out, until we figure things out.
All right, man.
MARIANA: Leopard is part of a joint operation between the
secret service and local police.
They're tracking down one of these scammers who
steals credit card information from gas stations.
OFFICER (over phone): We're all good to go, so start rolling through.
OFFICER: All right.
(speaking Spanish)
OFFICER: Back up. OFFICER: Stay right there.
(speaking Spanish)
MAN: Go ahead, man.
OFFICER: Police warrant!
Come to the door!
OFFICER: You're clear right.
OFFICER 2: Watch your right. Back of the room.
OFFICER: Go ahead. Go ahead.
OFFICER: Police!
(crying)
MARIANA: In the end, the suspect is arrested.
LEOPARD: Okay. OFFICER: Okay?
We're gonna take him in mine...
MARIANA: Leopard says these street-level data thieves
have recognized that skimmers are an easy way
to make a quick buck.
But the secret service has been tracking the rise of a much bigger threat.
REPORTER: Ransomware attacks against TV stations,
food and fuel suppliers, hospitals, water systems
and all levels of government.
REPRESENTATIVE: Behind these sophisticated attacks,
there is real world harm where people's life savings,
people's, uh, companies are being compromised by
these individuals.
MARIANA: Ransomware is a type of malicious software that
attackers use to infect computers and then hold
sensitive data hostage, until the victim pays for its release.
In 2021, nearly 70% of businesses worldwide
were victimized by ransomware.
LEOPARD: So one of the biggest issues with cybercrime is that
it is borderless.
You normally have networks of criminals.
And you may have a hacker who resides in Romania or Eastern Europe.
BIDEN: Responsible countries need to take action against
criminals who conduct ransomware activities on their territory.
REPORTER (over TV): We know tha it's concentrated in Romania.
REPORTER (over TV): Romania.
REPORTER (over TV): Romania in Southeastern Europe is
considered the cybercrime capital of the world.
MARIANA: That's my next stop.
I want to know why Romania has become such a hotbed for
cybercrime and try to track down
one of these ransomware attackers.
♪ ♪
MARIANA: I kept hearing about Romania, Romania.
Why Romania?
ALINKA: Romania has the fastest internet speed.
It's not the top internet speed of the world,
but it's in the top five.
MARIANA: Alinka is a local producer who grew up at
the height of the internet boom in Romania.
ALINKA: Right after the communist regime fell,
it was pretty much the wild west over here.
There was absolutely no regulation.
MARIANA: Oh.
ALINKA: That's why you had so many hackers flourishing here.
Nobody knew what they were doing in order to combat them.
We have a lot of engineers, a lot of tech savvy people here.
MARIANA: Mm-hmm.
ALINKA: It's part of the culture, if you want, to be
tech savvy was seen as this epiphany of intellectualness.
MARIANA: Mm-hmm.
I know it's been hard to get people to talk to us.
Does it look like we, we're gonna be able to talk to people?
ALINKA: People involved in criminal activities are also
weary because they're, sometimes they don't even
believe you're a journalist.
You might be an undercover cop.
MARIANA: Right.
ALINKA: Well, let's see how your charm works because mine
is a little bit at the end right now.
MARIANA: The next morning, I get my chance.
Alinka gives me the address of a notorious hacker,
who lives in a middle class neighborhood in Bucharest.
ALINK (over phone): Be careful, he's a little bit skittish.
He's waiting for you, but he's a little bit nervous and well,
he's an active, a real active hacker, so.
MARIANA: Okay.
ALINKA (over phone): Expect skittishness.
MARIANA: Okay, yeah.
ALINKA (over phone): Good luck.
JOHN SMITH (over intercom): Hello?
MARIANA: Hi, Mariana here.
JOHN SMITH (over intercom): Hi. Come on.
MARIANA: Okay, thank you.
He's pulled out a couple of times already.
I'm hoping that he's still interested in talking to us.
Do you characterize yourself as being a hacker?
JOHN SMITH: I have a problem with the definition.
MARIANA: Why's that?
JOHN SMITH: There are hackers and then there are hackers.
Most of the time, what you see on the news, that's just
somebody that managed to pick up a piece of software,
then they got caught because they didn't know
what they were doing.
MARIANA: How many people do you think here in Romania are
capable of doing what you do?
JOHN SMITH: I guess less than ten.
MARIANA: Wow. Less than ten.
JOHN SMITH: You enjoy the power, let's say, to do it.
MARIANA: Meet a man we'll call John Smith.
By day, he's a cyber-security specialist.
But after hours, he's a developer of ransomware and spyware.
Do you consider yourself a good guy or a bad guy?
JOHN SMITH: It depends.
If I'm over here at this computer, then I'm doing
security for different companies.
If I'm someplace else,
I take a laptop and go and have some fun.
Then I'm the other guy.
MARIANA: The bad guy?
What can you tell me about ransomware attacks?
JOHN SMITH: It's just a basic blackmailing scheme.
And all you need is a way in.
And then if you're able to encrypt all the computers,
that's the game.
Just delete the encryption key, keep it for yourself and
if they pay you, give it back, or not.
MARIANA: Right.
JOHN SMITH: Need my laptop.
You know, I'm working on a small side project.
Antennas.
Okay.
We're going in the field.
MARIANA: Oh, we're going in the field?
You're taking me with you?
JOHN SMITH: I don't know. You want to come?
MARIANA: Yeah, I do.
JOHN SMITH: Are you sure?
MARIANA: Oh, yeah. I'm very sure.
♪ ♪
JOHN SMITH: So we're going to the main headquarters
of this utility company, just to check out
their wireless infrastructure.
What I'm trying to figure out, if there's actually any
security whatsoever.
This is a wireless adapter that has quite an increased range.
MARIANA: Oh, my God, the police.
Do you want to go somewhere else?
JOHN SMITH: Ah, we are moving to the secondary position.
That was weird.
And we're, we're moving.
That wasn't the police, that was the Romanian Intelligence Service.
So, I'm just gonna do this again.
MARIANA: I was a little nervous before, now I'm extra nervous.
You're trying to see if there's a vulnerability,
if you can get into the Wi-Fi.
JOHN SMITH: Yeah. MARIANA: Without a password.
I think it's the first time in my life that I'm actually
witnessing somebody hacking.
So the company is the glass building actually right behind,
right next to us.
JOHN SMITH: Yeah. All of it. All of it, yeah.
MARIANA: What John is attempting happens in various
forms every day around the globe.
Sometimes to devastating effect.
DAWNA: Good evening and thanks for joining us.
We begin with the brazen cyber-attack that has shut
down the biggest pipeline in the United States.
MARIANA: In May of 2021, Colonial Pipeline became the
victim of a ransomware attack.
It wreaked so much havoc, the company shut down operations
to the pipeline that supplies 45% of fuel to the east coast.
BIDEN: I want to update everyone on the ransomware
cyber-attack that impacted on the Colonial Pipeline
over this past week.
REPORTER: Colonial Pipeline paid nearly $5 million in
ransom to hackers who infiltrated their system.
JOHN SMITH: The main company seems to have taken at least a
few steps towards protecting themselves.
But it's not that. There is no Wi-Fi here.
MARIANA: How is that possible?
JOHN SMITH: It's too far inside of the building and
we can't get it from out here.
And now we go to plan B.
MARIANA: What's plan B?
JOHN SMITH: Plan B is to go to a smaller company that's
part of this one, that shouldn't have the same
level of security.
MARIANA: Affiliated companies often share the same network
access, but might have less stringent security.
In the case of Colonial Pipeline, the ransomware
attackers didn't gain access to the operational network
controlling the pipeline itself, they found a way in
through the company's billing system.
JOHN SMITH: The whole problem with security is that the good
guys need to find each and every hole in the system.
The bad guy needs to find one.
♪ ♪
MARIANA: I'm with a man that some consider
one of the top hackers in Romania.
He's attempting to get inside the computer system of a major utility.
♪ ♪
JOHN SMITH: Let's try this again.
This is just gonna go with some passwords and try and get in.
MARIANA: Oh, wow.
JOHN SMITH: It just found the key.
MARIANA: Okay.
So now that you have this information, you have a way in?
JOHN SMITH: I have a way into their local network over here.
You search for vulnerable computers and hopefully we can
gain some traction on our target, the power company.
MARIANA: Are you shocked that you were able to actually get in?
Are you surprised?
JOHN SMITH: I'm surprised that their security measures are
basically nonexistent.
When you manage to get a foot in the door this easily,
it's probably going to get even easier from here on out.
MARIANA: And then what do you do with that information?
JOHN SMITH: We will see.
MARIANA: John insists this 'side project' was just to
satisfy his curiosity.
But he could make a lot of money if he decided to take
the experiment further.
In the ransomware game, this role is known as an
initial access broker.
Someone who sells the details of how to access a computer
network to other criminals, who then conduct the attack.
It's a lucrative gig.
I want to learn more.
CATALIN: So this is our threat map.
MARIANA: Bitdefender tracks reports of hacking and
cyber security threats all around the world.
This is what's happening right now? In real life?
CATALIN: Yes. This is real-time.
This is just 3% of what we see.
MARIANA: Really? CATALIN: Yeah, yeah.
MARIANA: So if everything was here, what would we be seeing?
Just...
CATALIN: It would be all red.
The human eye wouldn't be able to, to see all the dots.
BOGDAN: We process about 36 billion events every day.
MARIANA: No. BOGDAN: So, yes.
MARIANA: Bitdefender has been collecting data on
cyber-attacks for decades.
But in recent years, their threat map is increasingly
being overrun with ransomware cases carried out by a new
generation of professionals.
CATALIN: Ransomware has been around for the past 32 years,
but only in the last five years that it's became so prevalent.
They are more organized and more better prepared than
many of the organizations out there.
MARIANA: Everybody's a possible victim of this.
Like hospitals, I'm assuming airports, governments,
weapons companies.
CATALIN: So cyber-attacks can lead to...
MARIANA: To death. Yeah. CATALIN: Yeah, yeah.
If it's critical infrastructure, we're talking
about tens of millions of dollars.
So they're actually running this cybercrime as they're
running a business.
They have their PR person.
They have negotiators.
They have tools that to, to launder money.
MARIANA: The level of organization surprised me,
the cyber criminals I've met are all about keeping
a low profile.
But these ransomware cartels are different, and more
ruthless than anything I'd encountered before.
Some of their favorite targets include hospitals and schools.
JIM: So as I'm driving home that night and I'm starting to
get more and more, um, texts and calls about problems that
people are experiencing.
I'm very quickly realizing that this is not just a few
isolated incidences, but there's something
bigger going on.
MARIANA: On the night before Thanksgiving in 2020,
a ransomware group attacked the Baltimore County school system,
taking its computer network hostage.
Jim Corns is the executive director of the county's
IT department.
JIM: As we realized that, that we had had an attack,
we had to call our leadership in, in the school system to
let them know that something was happening,
because decisions had to be made right away.
We had a day of school that was coming up the next day,
and, and we didn't have a way to present instruction.
MARIANA: This was peak COVID.
Baltimore County's 156 schools,
and more than 100,000 students were all virtual.
That's why schools have become such obvious targets.
Lock teachers and staff out of their devices and the entire
school system is paralyzed.
JIM: It was inexplicably, uh, stressful.
Every minute that we weren't on the problem was a minute
that we, we had lost.
Our students weren't in contact with our teachers.
And there was more pressure than I've, I've ever felt.
We have contacted both local and federal, uh, law enforcement.
KELLY: The ransomware attack on Baltimore County public schools
is hurting an already hard-hit educational effort.
MARIANA: Jim won't say whether the county paid
the attackers or not.
But there are reports that the cost of the attack is nearing
$10 million.
And he tells me that doesn't include damages like decades
of lost teaching materials and student records.
JIM: It's like having our house burned down and walking
through that house, looking for anything that was left.
One of the, the biggest things we lost was our
sense of security.
When everything is suspect, uh, you, you don't trust any
of the, the systems that you have.
And we end up with this feeling that there's something
lurking there, waiting for you.
MARIANA: That's who I want to find; one of the
big ransomware players.
And as I continue to research,
one name keeps rising to the surface.
WOMAN: LockBit. MAN: LockBit.
MAN: LockBit.
REPORTER: As LockBit ransomware.
MARIANA: I find it in FBI reports.
And in hacker forums.
It's both the name of the ransomware group with the
fastest encryption speeds in the world and the name of the
leader and developer at the top of this formidable organization.
MAN: We hacked your company yesterday and now we have
around 80 gigabytes of your company data.
MARIANA: The rumors about him swirled.
But there's no doubt
that LockBit's attacks
are creating chaos around the globe.
Which is why I really want to find him.
His name is 'LockBit.' Have you heard of them?
JON: Oh, yeah!
LockBit's one of the most dangerous and effective groups
that exist today.
MARIANA: Reaching out to anyone in the underworld is
always tricky but the search for LockBit makes me
especially nervous.
He's engaged in attacks right now, complete with countdown
clocks, tracking when he'll release sensitive data if a
ransom isn't paid.
Back in the States,
I connect with several security experts for guidance.
NATE: If you get in contact, what they're probably going to do is they're going to want to
talk to you on, like, one of these secured messaging clients.
MARIANA: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
NATE: So there's one that uses, uh, what's called the
Tor Network, which is an anonymized, it's where the
dark web is. Right?
MARIANA: The dark web, yup.
You know, I'm a little bit on edge dealing with.
JON (over phone): Yeah.
MARIANA: The person that I know can find out everything
he wants about me in a second, so that puts, that makes me nervous.
JON (over phone): Right.
That's a good thing, because being, being nervous means
you're going to be paranoid, and being paranoid is what's
going to keep you safe when you're dealing with this
sort of element.
MARIANA: Yeah. They're the people that everybody else is
running away from and we're chasing.
JON (over phone): Yeah. Exactly.
NATE: So they're probably going to do some level of
reconnaissance against you, just to make sure that you're
not the FBI or, you know, the NSA, or something.
MARIANA: Mm-hmm.
NATE: The thing that I would definitely, um, caution you is
that they know that they're cybercriminals, but do treat
them, treat them with respect.
MARIANA: Um, so if I was to try and get in touch with,
you know, the people at the top, what, what do you think
I should do? How do I start?
NATE: One of my guys has some friends, he, he knows a middle man
that can talk to these folks on your behalf and set it up.
And so basically, he's, he will probably broker the conversation.
MARIANA: That's great.
The person I begin texting with is called Blackrabbit.
He or she tells me these forums are heavily encrypted
and guarded against outsiders.
But Blackrabbit agrees to vouch for me if I can prove
I am who I say I am.
How do I know you're really from Nat Geo?
Can you send me a picture of yourself?
Huh.
(laughing)
Okay.
Is this a good idea?
I'm basically dangling myself as bait in front of the
top ransomware hackers in the world.
"Okay. I will help you."
Wow.
Blackrabbit explains that the ransomware scene is full of
big egos, big money, and big rivalries.
Normally, none of the top players would talk.
But he thinks we're reaching out to LockBit at the right time.
His operation has become the most profitable in the world
and he may be eager to promote his brand.
Blackrabbit connects us on a dark web forum.
I wait a day. Then another.
Finally, someone that I'm told is LockBit joins the chat.
♪ ♪
MARIANA: Rumors are that LockBit is a young
20-something from Russia.
But this isn't him.
He would only communicate via encrypted text.
He asked that we use a masked avatar to relay the answers
to my questions.
Would you ever meet us in person?
LOCKBIT: The FBI wants to eliminate me, I'm ready to
meet you in person when I lose my mind.
It takes just one person to destroy the biggest hacker group,
there are too many people tied to me.
Without me, my business would die instantly.
MARIANA: How do you feel about the FBI targeting you?
LOCKBIT: I really love the FBI, it is because of them
that I am constantly learning about anonymity and
improving anonymity schemes.
To change locations and internet sources,
the countries I live in.
Someday I will be found.
MARIANA: How did you get into the ransomware world?
And why?
LOCKBIT: Big money.
I am just a young hacker who decided to make a lot of money easily.
MARIANA: What does a typical day look like for you?
LOCKBIT: Riding on a yacht, Lamborghini, dozens of luxury
models, drugs, everything like regular millionaires.
MARIANA: You guys have gained the reputation as one of the
most sophisticated groups in the ransomware world.
Um, how did you get there?
LOCKBIT: The software has the best technical specifications
on the planet, we have maximum encryption speed, ability to
automatically self-distribute, a list of processes to kill,
trace clearing, safe mode, filename encryption,
as well as a set of encryption software.
MARIANA: Do you ever feel bad for your victims?
LOCKBIT: Why feel sorry for the victims?
We are not doing them any harm.
We just provide paid training to system administrators.
Is it our fault that the companies don't want to spend
money to protect their networks?
You can always negotiate with us simply by paying a modest
amount of money, which is printed in unlimited quantities.
MARIANA: LockBit claims he has his own moral standards about targets.
But he also runs a business and his malware is a product
that his affiliates have used to attack government systems,
educational institutions, and even hospitals around the world.
So you might say that you don't put people's lives at risk, but.
Aren't you ultimately responsible for what happens
with the malware that you create?
LOCKBIT: I'm just a weapons manufacturer.
America has the best gun makers in the world.
All these weapons are sold all over the world, these weapons
regularly kill people, but do the gun makers care?
The gun makers only care about the profits from selling the weapons.
MARIANA: Despite my attempts to get more details about his
next targets, he won't bite.
But he does send me one more message.
It's a link to a project he's calling "LockBit Black."
I'm too scared to open it so I send it to Jon, one of the
security consultants I'd been talking to.
So Jon, can you tell me what's, what's this link that
LockBit sent me?
JON: It's what they're calling LockBit Black and it's
their newest interface that they've built for their new,
uh, ransomware.
It's actually really scary.
They've taken a lot of the technical capability that used
to be required to conduct a ransomware attack out of it.
MARIANA: Back in Romania, I'd sat shotgun as John Smith
hacked his way into a major utility company.
With LockBit's new malware, he's removed that step.
Now all someone has to do is type the name of a company
website and the malware goes in search of access.
JON: It's now like a game. I could take five minutes.
I could teach you to use it and conduct attacks.
It's really going to change the game of ransomware,
and it's really scary.
MARIANA: Do you think that this has a potential of sort of,
uh, launching a whole new generation of ransomware attackers?
JON: Absolutely.
I didn't expect the, the ease of use that, that this has to
have been built into it.
Uh, I expected it to be more efficient but I didn't expect
it to be so much easier.
Uh, for someone to do.
What's going to happen is it's going to allow many more
people to take part in these attacks.
Higher volumes of attacks means a lot more victims,
uh, that also means the bad guy gets a lot more money.
MARIANA: Make no mistake about it, the arc of the criminal
universe bends towards easy money.
And we should all be very, very afraid if ransomware has
gotten easy enough for someone like me to use.
Captioned by Cotter Media Group.