‘Robin Hood’ hacker group donate stolen money to charities

A hacking group has recently taken responsibility for donating stolen money to charities in what’s being seen as a first for cybercrime.

The Darkside hacker group posted receipts for $10,000 in Bitcoin donations to two separate charities - Children International and The Water Project. Children International have announced that they will not be keeping the money, while The Water Project are yet to make a comment.

In a blog post on the dark web, the hackers claimed that they only target large, profitable companies with ransomware attacks, holding their IT systems hostage until a ransom is paid.

They wrote: "We think that it's fair that some of the money the companies have paid will go to charity.

"No matter how bad you think our work is, we are pleased to know that we helped changed someone's life. Today we sended (sic) the first donations."

Analysis from the crypto-currency market has confirmed that the Darkside hacker group are actively extorting funds from victims.

There is also evidence to suggest that they may have links to other cybercriminal groups who have been responsible for high-profile attacks on companies such as Travelex.

The cybercriminals used a US-based service called The Giving Block to make their donations, which describes itself as ‘the only non-profit specific solution for accepting crypto-currency donations’.

The Giving Block have claimed that they were not aware the donations were made by cybercriminals.

What to do if you have had money stolen by cybercriminals

If you have had money stolen by cybercriminals, it may be because they had access to your data following a data breach.

If you believe that your financial details have been compromised, you should contact your bank or credit card company immediately to make them aware of the situation. In some instances, they may be able to cancel affected cards or prevent large transactions that are deemed to be fraudulent.

There are a number of other steps you can take to minimise the risk of your data being used by cybercriminals. Take a look at our guide to what to do if your data has been stolen in a data breach to find out more.

Any organisation that holds your personal data with has a legal duty to keep that data safe. If the organisation’s security measures are deemed to be insufficient, you may be able to pursue compensation. This is something the team at Hayes Connor will be able to discuss further with you.

How Hayes Connor can help you claim cybercrime compensation

Hayes Connor has one of the largest teams of data breach claims specialists in the country, with a wealth of combined experience in successfully claiming compensation for victims of cybercrime and data breaches.

If you have had your money stolen by cybercriminals, we can advise you on whether you are likely to have grounds to claim compensation and the level of compensation you can expect to receive.

You can find out more about our expertise and how we handle data breach claims here.

To see how we can help you with a data breach claim, you can use our online claim form or speak to a member of our team by calling 0151 363 5895.