Law enforcement agencies in Europe arrested 18 individuals for their suspected roles in three major credit card fraud and money laundering networks that caused losses of over €300 million (~$346 million).
Between 2016 and 2021, the suspects allegedly stole credit card information, created fake accounts, made and concealed illegal payments, and laundered the proceeds from their schemes.
The law enforcement action, called Operation Chargeback, targeted 44 suspects in Germany and other countries. The 18 arrested suspects are American, Austrian, Canadian, Danish, Dutch, German, and Lithuanian nationals.
According to Europol, the cybercriminals defrauded more than 4.3 million cardholders in 193 countries using 19 million fake online subscriptions to various websites.
The websites were crafted to evade search engine indexing and could be accessed only through direct URLs. To make it difficult for cardholders to identify the unauthorized transactions, the suspects kept the credit card charges to around €50 (~$58) per month, with obscure descriptions.
The suspects allegedly abused four major German payment service providers to launder the proceeds from their illicit activities. Six employees of the service providers, including executives and compliance officers, allegedly helped the fraudsters in exchange for fees.
Additionally, the suspects concealed their activities through numerous shell companies obtained through crime-as-a-service providers, primarily registered in the UK and Cyprus. This also made it difficult for victims to charge back the fraudulent transactions to their cards.
The estimated attempted damages from the fraud schemes surpass €750 million (~$865 million), Europol says.
On November 4, authorities in Canada, Cyprus, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, and the US, with support from Europol and Eurojust, performed 60 house searches. Nearly 30 premises were searched in Germany.
The investigators seized documents, laptops, mobile phones, and other communication tools, as well as cryptocurrency assets and luxury vehicles.
Related: South Korea Seeks to Arrest Dozens of Online Scam Suspects Repatriated From Cambodia
Related: SIM Farm Dismantled in Europe, Seven Arrested
Related: Dutch Teens Arrested for Allegedly Helping Russian Hackers
Related: Interpol Says 260 Suspects in Online Romance Scams Have Been Arrested in Africa
