The Spanish National Police announced that it had arrested 40 people on suspicion of being associated with organized crime. Trinitarian.
Those arrested include two hackers who used phishing and smishing techniques to commit bank fraud, and 15 other members of a criminal organization, all of whom committed bank fraud, document forgery, and identity theft. He has been charged with a number of crimes, including theft and money laundering.
In total, this nefarious plan is believed to have defrauded over 300,000 victims and resulted in losses of over €700,000.
“Criminal gangs used hacking tools and business logistics to carry out computer fraud,” officials said.
To carry out their attacks successfully, cybercriminals send fake links via SMS that, when clicked, redirect users to phishing panels masquerading as legitimate financial institutions to steal credentials and abuse access to obtain loans. requested and linked the card to a cryptocurrency wallet under their control. Control.
These SMS messages create a false sense of urgency and reduce the attacker’s chances of success by encouraging recipients to click on accompanying links in order to resolve alleged bank account security issues. It was intended to raise
The stolen cards were used to purchase digital assets and cashed in to fund the group’s activities, including paying legal fees, transferring money to members in prison, and buying drugs and weapons.
Some of the illegal proceeds were also transferred to foreign bank accounts, from which other group members used the funds to purchase Dominican real estate.
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“They also had an extensive network of mules to receive money by bank transfer and to withdraw at ATMs,” the National Police said.
Another scam perpetrated by this organization involved setting up a front company to contract point-of-sale (PoS) terminals through fake purchases.
Authorities said 13 raids were carried out in the provinces of Madrid, Seville and Guadalajara, seizing computer equipment, padlocks, €5,000 in cash, a keypicking toolkit and other documents containing information about the gang’s organizational structure. rice field.
