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The world’s top 5 cybercrime schemes

International law enforcement agencies work together to fight cybercrime. This now-familiar notice appears whenever they successfully take down a cybercriminal group’s website. This notice is from the 2021 takedown of the ransomware group NetWalker, whose victims included the healthcare industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal Bureau of Investigation
November 14, 2024

Last year a ransomware gang took control of the networks of two major casino corporations in Las Vegas. Caesars Entertainment reportedly paid the $15 million ransom, while MGM Resorts did not, resulting in losses of $100 million while it worked to regain control. The September 2023 cyberattack was not an isolated incident. According to a 2023 report, there were 3,205 data compromises in the United States, affecting more than 350 million people. In today’s digital world, anyone with a connected device can become a victim of cybercrime. While extortion via ransomware is the most prevalent form of cybercrime, other types of crime ...

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Eric Dezenhall rates Harry Truman as a leader who “would not have been president without the Mob” for his involvement with the Kansas City political machine, which was heavily influenced by organized crime. In this photo taken in the late 1930s, Senator Truman, right, examines revolvers with then Vice-President John Nance Garner. Library of Congress

Author explores ties between mobsters and U.S. presidents

On a hot summer day in the early 1980s, Eric Dezenhall, then in his 20s and working in President Ronald…

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Charles “Lucky” Luciano, well known by his facial scars and drooping eye, was abducted by assailants who left him for dead. This 1931 mugshot shows the slight disfigurements he received. Cipollini Collection

Charles Luciano survived ‘gang ride’ 95 years ago

With unseasonably warm weather for a mid-October evening, Officer Henry A. Blanke dropped the convertible top of his Ford patrol…

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On March 14, 1891, a lynch mob stormed the Orleans Parish Prison and murdered 11 Italians prisoners held in relation to the assassination of Chief of Police David Hennessy. The outrage that followed from the Italian American community contributed to the first Columbus Day.

Columbus Day and its ‘Mafia’ origins

On July 21, 1892, President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed that Friday, October 21st, would be a celebration of the 400th anniversary…

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Reporter and author Anthony DeStefano has written on organized crime topics since the 1970s, including 10 nonfiction books.

Veteran crime reporter Anthony M. DeStefano doubles as Mafia author

In the mid-1970s, New York reporter Anthony M. DeStefano didn’t know much about the Mafia. But working at Fairchild News…

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This crime scene photo from the Pierre Hotel robbery shows the safe room after the heist. Law enforcement initially thought the boxes were chosen at random, but insiders later shared the culprits had a list of contents that informed their selections. New York Daily News Archive

The top 5 heists in Mob history

What makes a “good” heist? Is it an exceptionally detailed plan, a cast of colorful characters or an unfathomable amount…

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In the upcoming film Alto Knights, Robert De Niro plays a dual role portraying Mob bosses Vito Genovese, left, and Frank Costello, right, as they are locked in a dispute over Mob leadership. Library of Congress, Jeff Spicer/Getty Images, Library of Congress

Upcoming film ‘Alto Knights’ depicts mobsters Vito Genovese, Frank Costello in bitter feud

The Mafia movie Alto Knights features veteran actor Robert De Niro playing dual roles as rival mobsters Vito Genovese and…

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Chicago crime boss Al Capone transferred to Alcatraz 90 years ago this month

Depression-era mobsters and outlaws often found themselves locked up in undeniably unpleasant jails and prisons, but being sent to Alcatraz…

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