The Cyber Police of Ukraine have arrested twelve alleged members of an organized cybercrime group that’s stolen approximately $4.3 million from users across Europe, the Hacker News reports.
“The members of the international criminal group were exposed by the employees of the Cyber Police Department together with the Main Investigation Department of the National Police and in cooperation with law enforcement officers of the Czech Republic,” the Ukrainian police said. “Some of the people involved, who live in Ukraine, created more than 100 phishing sites aimed at European users. Various products were offered on web resources at below-market prices. Bank card data, which customers indicated on phishing resources to pay for orders, automatically became known to attackers. Later, they appropriated money from their accounts.
The gang used two call centers to trick users into making fraudulent purchases.
“For the fraudulent scheme, the participants also created two call centers, in Vinnytsia and in Lviv, and involved operators in their work,” the police said. “Their role was to convince customers to make purchases. So far, more than 1,000 victims have been identified, including citizens of the Czech Republic, Poland, France, Spain, Portugal and other European countries. The total amount of damages is more than 160 million hryvnias.”
The police raided dozens of houses and seized equipment used by the alleged scammers.
“Law enforcement officers conducted more than 30 searches in the houses of the accused, in their cars and at the locations of call centers,” the police stated. “According to the results, mobile phones, SIM cards and computer equipment used in illegal activities were seized. Employees of the Main Department of Counterintelligence Protection of State Interests in the Informational Sector of the SBU in the Kharkiv Region also took part in the investigation.”
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The Hacker News has the story.
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