- Europol has dismantled a group of organized crimes
- The group was carrying out investment scams
- More than 100 victims lost a combined 3 million euros
Eurojust and Europol has dismantled a group of organized crime in world operations in a joint operation with German, British researchers, Cypriot, Albanians and Israelis, which leads to the arrest of a suspect. Eurojust confirms that the group defrauded more than one hundred victims, assuming more than 3 million euros through a false online investment platform.
The group used cyber trade and was able to obtain “considerable profits” and disappoint the victims. The group, as criminals often do, promised substantial profits in a short period of time. Once the victims transferred money to the platform, false graphics were shown that indicate that they could earn much more if it is transferred more to the platform.
Online networks used criminals that were passed through corridors, using ‘psychological tactics’ to convince victims to transfer even more findings, which, of course, were never invested in anything, but were directly stolen by the group.
Interrupted operations
The scam was discovered after a married couple informed the fraud to the German authorities, and an investigation discovered an extensive network of criminals. Police seized the evidence related to investigation, such as documents, electronic and effective devices.
Digital scams, particularly investment fraud, is a serious danger and is costing Internet users millions every year. The new tools for cybercriminals, especially AI tools, are helping scammers to pump scamming campaigns in minutes, allowing criminals to access cybercrime with much less skills than it used to be necessary.
This goes beyond the extensive Phishing campaigns, with Endepfake celebrities, calls or videos of Deepfake and even false websites generated by AI that mimic legitimate businesses
“The good news is that there are ways to avoid being victims of such attacks,” said Aaron Walton, an Intel threat analyst at Expel.
“Many organizations build technological solutions to help prevent malicious emails from landing in the user input trays automatically detecting suspicious indicators. Users can also protect themselves and their organizations marking any email that seems suspicious of their safety equipment.”
