Europol Dismantles Major Online Fraud Platform in Major Blow to Fraudsters – Source: www.infosecurity-magazine.com

A European law enforcement operation has dismantled a criminal marketplace that facilitates large-scale online fraud, Europol has announced.

Coordinated actions were carried out across Europe on December 4, resulting in the takedown of infrastructure linked to a specialized online marketplace that operated as a central hub for the trade of illegally obtained information.

Law enforcement also dismantled infrastructure of a network of fake online shops used to trick consumers into entering payment information.

In total, over 50 servers were seized in Germany, Finland, the Netherlands and Norway, containing more than 200 TB of digital evidence.

Two individuals suspected of involvement in running the online marketplace were arrested in Germany and Austria under European arrest warrants.

The 27-year-old and 37-year-old are currently in pretrial detention.

The operation was led by police forces in Germany and supported by law enforcement authorities across Europe.

Providing a Central Hub for Cyber Fraud

The law enforcement investigation began in the Autumn of 2022, following reports of fraudulent phone calls in which scammers impersonated bank employees to extract sensitive information, such as addresses and security answers, from victims.

Investigators traced the stolen data back to the online marketplace, which allowed its thousands of users to buy the information sorted by region and account balance. This customisation enabled criminals to carry out targeted fraud with greater efficiency.

The marketplace was linked to a network of fake online shops that consumers were redirected to via phishing links.

These shops would then trick victims into entering their payment information, with the stolen credentials subsequently sold through the marketplace.

Law Enforcement Victories Against Online Crime

The operation is the latest in a series of successful actions announced by authorities announced in the past week related to the disruption of digital tools used by criminals.

On December 2, Interpol revealed the results of Operation Haechi V, in which law enforcement agencies from over 40 countries and territories seized more than $400m in virtual assets and government-backed currencies suspected to have been obtained via a range of different scams.

An operation led by Dutch and French authorities on December 3 took down Matrix, a sophisticated encrypted messaging service used by criminals involved in offences including drug trafficking, arms trafficking and money laundering.

Law enforcers in Germany then revealed on December 4 they had shut down the country’s largest illegal dark web marketplace, Crimenetwork, and arrested a suspected administrator of the site.

Finally, on December 4, the UK’s National Crime Agency revealed Operation Destablise, which led to scores of arrests and millions of dollars of funds seized related to two-Russian money laundering networks.