Extensive investment scam that stole €3 million tackled by Europol
Criminals defrauded over 100 victims.
- Europol have dismantled an organised crime group
- The group was carrying out investment scams
- Over 100 victims lost a combined €3 million
A globally operating organised crime group has been dismantled by Eurojust and Europol in a joint operation with German, British, Cypriot, Albanian, and Israeli investigators - leading to the arrest of a suspect. Eurojust confirms the group defrauded over a hundred victims, taking over €3 million through a fake online investment platform.
The group used cyber trading and was able to make "considerable profits” and to defraud the victims. The group, as criminals often do, promised substantial profits in a short period of time. Once victims transferred money to the platform, they were then shown false charts indicating they could earn much more if more is transferred to the platform.
The online networks used criminals posing as brokers, using ‘psychological tactics’ to convince the victims to transfer even more finds, which of course, were never actually invested into anything, but rather were directly stolen by the group.
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Disrupted operations
The scam was uncovered after a married couple reported the fraud to German authorities - and an inquiry uncovered an extensive network of criminals. Law enforcement seized evidence connected to the investigation like documents, electronic devices, and cash.
Digital scams, particularly investment fraud, is a serious danger, and is costing internet users millions every year. New tools for cybercriminals, especially AI tools, are helping fraudsters pump out scamming campaigns in minutes, allowing criminals to access cybercrime with far fewer skills than used to be necessary.
This goes beyond extensive phishing campaigns, with deepfake celebrity endorsements, deepfake calls or videos, and even AI-generated fake websites mimicking legitimate businesses
“The good news is there are ways to avoid falling victim to such attacks,” said Aaron Walton, Threat Intel Analyst at Expel.
“Many organisations build in technological solutions to help prevent malicious emails from landing in user’s inboxes by automatically detecting suspicious indicators. Users can also protect themselves and their organisations by flagging any emails that appear suspicious to their security teams.”
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