After searching inside 24 homes on Tuesday, June 21, police officers captured nine people in the Netherlands. The seized cybercriminals are also behind potential drug and firearm trafficking, according to Europol.
Phishing is one of the most simple and effective cyber offenses that could be worth billions.
Europol, Belgian, Dutch Police Catches Phishing Scammers Allegedly Involved in Potential Drug and Firearm Trafficking
After running off millions from their victims by tricking them into giving their bank account usernames and passwords, authorities crushed the phishing circle. This resulted from Europol, Belgian police, and Dutch police operations.
The seizure on June 21 resulted in the detention of nine people and the search of 24 homes in the Netherlands. The police confiscated cash, cryptocurrencies, electronics, jewelry, and firearms.
According to Europol, the phishing attacks embezzled millions of euros from the victims. The Europol added that aside from phishing, fraud, scam, and money laundering, group members were also involved in potential drug and firearm trafficking incidents.
Victims were reached by swindlers' messages sent via email, SMS, and mobile messaging apps. The text contained a phishing link to a fake version of the bank's website, tricking the targets into entering credentials and providing the gang with the username and password needed to their rob finances.
The gang got the money from a money mule that illegally transfers money from the victim's account through a courier service.
Europol assisted Belgian and Dutch police by administering information exchange, operational coordination, and research analysis support. During the police procedure itself, Europol aided field investigators together with forensic and technical expertise.
Phishing Attacks Among the Simplest Cybercrime, How to Avoid?
Phishing attacks on financial information are one of the simplest forms of cybercrime, but they are also one of the most effective, costing billions of dollars each year.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, financial information phishing attacks such as Business Email Infringement (BEC). Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Internet Crime Center (IC3) confirms that BEC remains the largest source of monetary loss, from an estimated $ 1.8 billion in 2020 to $2.4 billion in 2021.
As per the FBI's deputy director, Paul Abbate, BEC schemes resulted in 19,954 complaints with an approximate loss of about $2.4 billion in the year 2021. These types of cybercrimes usually prey on real estate companies. It used to depend on imitating or hacking a business email account of a senior officer to order an inferior to wire funds to the swindler's bank account.
In virtual conferences, the scammers will insert still images of the CEO with silence or a 'deepfake' sound. They will disguise themselves as the CEO, claiming that the audio or video was not working correctly. Using a video, scammers will mandate the employee to complete the transfer or use the manager's compromised email to convey the transfer instruction.
Because of technology like AI-generated audio and deep video fakes, Business Email Infringment scams evolved, especially after the COVID crisis made several businesses shift online. As a result, they have to host video meetings via Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
