Microsoft and Japan took down a cybercrime network behind over a billion scam messages
Microsoft and Japan’s National Police Agency disrupted a marketplace and two phishing services linked to more than a billion scam messages since January 2026. The operation matters because it targeted tools that enabled fraud across borders and against consumers, businesses and essential services.
Microsoft says the services targeted more than 75,000 organisations in over 150 countries, including Microsoft customers with more than 750 million messages. YAM Store sold stolen or fraudulent Microsoft and Google accounts, while phishing kits CoGUI and Iron Man helped send messages, including from more than 2,300 impersonation templates. Microsoft disabled over 20,000 connected accounts and blocked more than 100,000 web domains, with Health-ISAC helping seize and redirect domains used by the platforms.
- Microsoft and Japan disrupted a global phishing marketplace and two kits.
- The services enabled over one billion malicious messages since January 2026.
- Microsoft disabled 20,000 accounts and blocked more than 100,000 domains.
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Phishing is a type of online fraud in which criminals pose as trusted people or organisations to trick someone into revealing account details or sending money. Some crime groups sell stolen accounts and ready-made phishing tools, allowing others to carry out scams at scale.
Microsoft provides widely used online services, while Japan’s National Police Agency is the country’s national law enforcement body. Health-ISAC is a group that shares cyber threat information across the health sector. Their involvement reflects how these schemes can affect people and organisations in different countries and industries.
Fraudulent accounts and messages can be used to target consumers, businesses and essential services. Disrupting the services that supply those tools can make scams harder to carry out, though it does not by itself prevent all phishing.
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