A joint investigation involving Australian and US authorities has led to the arrest of 2 young Western Australians accused of helping run a sophisticated cybercrime operation that allegedly targeted hundreds of organisations worldwide.
Ruben Ian Thomson, 21, and Louis Michael Gaebler, 23, were arrested in Perth following an investigation involving federal and state police and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The FBI’s Assistant Law Enforcement Attache Dave Andish said Thomson was allegedly the leader of TeamPCP, a highly organised syndicate linked to data intrusion, identity crime and cryptocurrency-based money laundering.
The pair appeared in court facing 14 charges after police raided properties in Cottesloe, Hamilton Hill and Mandurah and seized electronic devices and other items. During Thomson’s bail hearing, prosecutors described the 2 men as “masterminds” and said more charges were possible.
The investigation began in April after Australian and US authorities received information about the alleged syndicate. Police allege the group inserted malicious code into publicly available open-source software, which was unknowingly used by other developers.
Investigators say the infected software reached government, academic and private-sector systems and potentially compromised more than 1,000 organisations worldwide. It allegedly helped the group access sensitive information, including more than 500,000 user credentials and authentication materials.
AFP Commander Graeme Marshall said the stolen information allegedly allowed the group to impersonate legitimate users, bypass security controls and access networks and cloud environments without authorisation. The activity caused “significant” financial losses and operational disruptions, with remediation costs estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Some affected organisations were Australian.
“It is rare to have cyber criminals of this status domestically”, Marshall said.
He also said young people being involved in cybercrime was not unusual.
“We do see a lot of young offenders involved in cybercrime … some of them are exceptionally smart,” he said.
“They’ve grown up in a cyber-native environment, and for whatever reason they’ve decided to go down that pathway.”
Thomson’s lawyer Nick Scerri said a trial could be more than 18 months away and sought bail with a proposal for Thomson to stay with his parents in Cottesloe. The magistrate raised concerns about possible evidence tampering, and the bail application was withdrawn.
Gaebler’s lawyer did not apply for bail. He remains in custody and is due to appear again on September 18.
Police have already extracted 100 terabytes of data from devices seized at 1 address and expect to recover more. Investigators said further arrests are possible.
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