Europol dismantles multimillion-euro cyber gang
Nine people have been taken into custody as a result of a cross-border operation between Europol and police in the Netherlands and Belgium.
The organised crime group, now in custody in the Netherlands, engaged in phishing, scams, fraud, and money laundering activities that led to millions of euros in losses.
According to a National Police Force statement, the suspects include four men aged 25-36 from Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Almere and Spijkenisse, as well as one woman who is 25 years old and from Deventer.
The authorities searched 24 homes, seizing a variety of items including firearms, ammunition, electronic gadgets, designer clothing, jewellery, and thousands of euros in cash and cryptocurrencies.
Dozens of victims are known in Belgium alone, according to local police.
The arrests came after the Belgian investigating judge issued a European investigation order to the Public Prosecution Service in Amsterdam to arrest the suspects and search the homes.
Police raided all 24 addresses at the same time on the morning of Tuesday the 21st June.
The scammers contacted their victims by SMS, email, or mobile messaging applications. Users were duped into giving their banking credentials by clicking on phishing links, which sent them to a bogus banking website.
The gang successfully stole several million euros using these tactics, utilising money mules to transfer funds from the victims' accounts and to withdraw the money they had gained.
Some of the group's members allegedly have ties to drug trafficking and potential gun trafficking.
Information interchange, operational coordination, and analytic assistance for this operation were all made possible by Europol.
Europol sent three experts to the Netherlands as part of the operation to provide forensics, technical expertise, and real-time analytical assistance to on-the-ground investigators.
Europol, which is based in the Hague, provides assistance to the 27 EU member states in the fight against organised and severe criminal activity.
The latest operation comes less than a month after Europol took down the infrastructure linked to the FluBot Android virus, in association with law enforcement agencies from Australia, Finland, Hungary, Belgium, Ireland, Spain, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United States.
In April, RaidForums, a popular marketplace where cybercriminals would buy and sell stolen data, was shut down and its infrastructure seized in a major cross-border law enforcement operation, dubbed TOURNIQUET.
Operation TOURNIQUET was also managed by Europol in support of independent investigations in the USA, UK, Romania, Sweden and Portugal.
Last year, more than 800 people were arrested worldwide in an organised crime sting (Operation Trojan Shield) involving the interception of encrypted communications by law enforcement agencies.
The operation saw agencies in 18 countries seizing over $148 million in currency, hundreds of illegal weapons, six tons of cocaine and five tons of marijuana.