Europol announced on Tuesday that police have dismantled a cybercrime group that made millions of euros through phishing and other types of schemes.
The law enforcement operation was conducted by police in Belgium and the Netherlands, with support from Europol. The Dutch police arrested nine individuals — eight men and one woman, aged between 25 and 36 — and searched 24 houses in the country.
Police have seized firearms, electronics, jewelry, cash and cryptocurrency from the suspects. The investigation was initiated by Belgian authorities and the individuals arrested in the Netherlands will be handed over to Belgium.
According to police, the suspects were involved in phishing and other internet scams that helped them make millions of euros.
The cybercriminals allegedly sent emails, text messages, and WhatsApp messages to targeted individuals. The messages contained a link that pointed to a fake bank website designed to harvest the victim’s credentials, giving the cybercrooks access to their online banking account.
“They used money mules to transfer these funds from the victim’s accounts and to cash out the fraudulently obtained money. Members of the group have also been connected with cases of drugs trafficking and possible firearms trafficking,” Europol said.
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Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is a contributing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher for two years before starting a career in journalism as Softpedia’s security news reporter. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.
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