Global Cyber Gang Busted: 37 Arrested for Industrial-Scale Phishing Scam, Stealing £1m and 544,000
A global cyber gang was dismantled by police after they used a technology service to carry out industrial-scale fraud through fraudulent text messages.
Thirty-seven people were arrested worldwide, and victims are being contacted.
The scam, known as "phishing," targeted younger people who grew up with the internet, allowing scammers without technical skills to send messages designed to trick victims into making online payments.
The gang's site, LabHost, was targeted and helped criminals send messages and direct victims to fake websites.
A criminal website named LabHost was taken down by authorities, allowing them to seize data of approximately 480,000 stolen credit card numbers and 64,000 Pin codes, collectively referred to as "fullz data," according to the Metropolitan Police.
The estimated profits made by the site were nearly £1m ($1.25m).
Dame Lynne Owens, Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, emphasized the high likelihood of becoming a victim of fraud.
Adrian Searle, director of the National Economic Crime Centre, added that technology facilitates the mass production of online fraud.
In a two-year operation, law enforcement agencies in the UK and 17 countries arrested 25 suspects, including at Luton and Manchester airports, for buying and using "off-the-shelf" malicious software from LabHost to target 70,000 victims in the UK and elsewhere.
The victims were tricked into giving their personal details online.
The operation resulted in the search of 70 properties and the charging of one British man.
The scam, known as "phishing," targeted younger people who grew up with the internet, allowing scammers without technical skills to send messages designed to trick victims into making online payments.
The gang's site, LabHost, was targeted and helped criminals send messages and direct victims to fake websites.
A criminal website named LabHost was taken down by authorities, allowing them to seize data of approximately 480,000 stolen credit card numbers and 64,000 Pin codes, collectively referred to as "fullz data," according to the Metropolitan Police.
The estimated profits made by the site were nearly £1m ($1.25m).
Dame Lynne Owens, Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, emphasized the high likelihood of becoming a victim of fraud.
Adrian Searle, director of the National Economic Crime Centre, added that technology facilitates the mass production of online fraud.
In a two-year operation, law enforcement agencies in the UK and 17 countries arrested 25 suspects, including at Luton and Manchester airports, for buying and using "off-the-shelf" malicious software from LabHost to target 70,000 victims in the UK and elsewhere.
The victims were tricked into giving their personal details online.
The operation resulted in the search of 70 properties and the charging of one British man.