News

Authorities take down lucrative European cyberfraud operation

Using man-in-the-middle email attacks, the alleged cyberthieves were able to steal $6.8 million in a very short period of time, authorities say.

June 12, 2015

A joint international operation has led to the takedown of a group of alleged cybercriminals suspected of committing financial fraud, according to a Europol news release. The group was active in Belgium, Georgia, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the U.K.

The operation was coordinated by Europol's European Cybercrime Centre and Eurojust, led by the Italian Polizia di Stato, the Spanish National Police, the Polish Police Central Bureau of Investigation, and supported by U.K. law enforcement bodies.

Authorities arrested 49 suspects (mainly from Cameroon, Nigeria and Spain) and searched 58 properties, seizing laptops, hard disks, telephones, tablets, credit cards and cash, SIM cards, memory sticks, forged documents and bank account documents.

According to Europol, the group operated through man-in-the-middle attacks. These involved repeated computer intrusions against medium-size and large European companies using hacking and social engineering techniques.

Once the offenders gained access to corporate email accounts, they monitored communications to detect payment requests. The criminals would then instruct customers to send payment to bank accounts controlled by the gang.

Payments were immediately cashed out through various means and then laundered through a sophisticated sequence of transactions. Europol said the thieves managed to amass 6 million euros ($6.8 million) within a very short time.