Asian Card Fraud Ring Busted in the EU

Law enforcement officials in Finland, working with the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) at Europol, have taken down a criminal network in Asia said to be responsible for a string of fraudulent Web purchases and other transactions.

According to an EC3 press release, two members of the gang, who were traveling on false documents though Finland, were arrested at Helsinki airport. Searches of computers discovered on their person revealed some 15,000 stolen credit card numbers. According to the EC3, these cards, as well as countless others, were taken from people worldwide and used to propagate their scams.

In Europe alone, over 70,000 Euros in losses were sustained by cardholders and banks. Further, the EC3 added, there is evidence of additional criminal activities in large-scale international payment fraud and illegal immigration.

“In this case, the commitment of the Finnish Border Guard and National Police, coupled with the close international cooperation facilitated by Europol’s EC3, has been crucial for investigating this sophisticated scam. As the central point in Europe for tackling cybercrime, EC3 will continue to proactively support other investigations of this nature,” said Troels Oerting, Head of the European Cybercrime Centre.

The press release didn’t get into any other details about the case, and emails to the organization were not returned by the time this went to press.