A Chinese national has been arrested for allegedly being the mastermind behind a huge botnet used to steal billions of dollars.

The “911 S5” botnet was likely the world’s largest – and infected computers in nearly 200 countries and facilitated a whole host of crimes including financial frauds, identity theft and child exploitation, said FBI director Christopher Wray.

Yunhe Wang allegedly made at least $99m (£78m) – buying luxury cars and properties all over the world – by selling access to criminals who used it for scams.

A botnet is a network of infected computers that hackers operate remotely to conduct mass cyber attacks and scams.

The “zombie” machines are at their mercy and can be used to gather personal data, monitor activity and install applications.

Wang, 35, was arrested in Singapore last week and $29m (£22.8m) in cryptocurrency seized, said Brett Leatherman – the FBI’s deputy assistant director for cyber operations.

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

The botnet was used to to steal “billions of dollars from financial institutions, credit card issuers and accountholders, and federal lending programs since 2014”, according to an indictment filed in Texas.

The network allegedly included 613,000 infected machines in the US alone.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland said criminals using it committed about $5.9bn (£4.64bn) in fraud, including 560,000 bogus unemployment insurance claims.

Wang used his millions to buy 21 properties in the UAE, the US, China, Singapore, Thailand and St. Kitts and Nevis – where he obtained citizenship, said prosecutors.

Cars including a Rolls-Royce, two BMWs and a Ferrari – as well as luxury watches – are among assets that could be seized.

If convicted, Wang faces up to 65 years in jail over charges including computer fraud and money laundering.

Authorities from the US, Singapore, Thailand and Germany were involved in the operation to arrest him and disrupt the botnet, the FBI said.

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

Read more from Sky News:
‘Bad breath rapist’ found 17 years after crime
Billionaire to take two-person sub to depths of Titanic

“The conduct alleged here reads like it’s ripped from a screenplay,” said Matthew S. Axelrod, from the US Bureau of Industry and Security.

“A scheme to sell access to millions of malware-infected computers worldwide, enabling criminals over the world to steal billions of dollars, transmit bomb threats, and exchange child exploitation materials – then using the scheme’s nearly $100m in profits to buy luxury cars, watches, and real estate.”

Related posts:

Amazon announces Astro home robot that will guard the house and help with caregiving ‘World’s first’ unisex condom invented by gynaecologist Facebook and Google should pay compensation to people scammed on their sites, say MPs Internet providers have ‘moral obligation’ to help customers through cost of living crisis New image reveals stunning ghostly remains of gigantic star Founder of bankrupt crypto firm breaks his silence, with thousands locked out of savings Scientists create eggs using only male mice cells – in breakthrough which could pave way for human male couples to have children Smartwatches could help identify symptoms of Parkinson’s disease Why Meta’s Twitter rival could finally be the one that catches on How and where to view the sturgeon supermoon event tonight Uber records first ever operating profit What is social jetlag? Why irregular sleep patterns are bad for your health