An Interpol operation captured 1003 individuals accused of obtaining US$27 million illegally through complex cybercriminal campaigns, which affected residents of more than 20 different countries.
According to Interpol, the operation, called HAECHI-II, is a joint action by the police of Macau, Hong Kong, Angola, Brunei, Cambodia, Colombia, China, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Philippines, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand and Vietnam.
The blows applied by those captured involved romantic fraud on dating apps, online gambling fraud, money laundering and even a campaign that disseminated a fake app from the Round 6 series (Squid Game)from Netflix.
In addition to the 1003 individuals captured during the four months of operation, Interpol identified 10 new fraud strategies, blocked 2,350 bank accounts linked to criminal campaigns and published more than 50 communications to local police.
German police officer, Secretary General of Interpol, Jürgen Stock, explains that the COVID-19 pandemic has not stopped cybercriminals. On the contrary, “HAECHI-II results show an increase in online financial crime“.
“Only through this level of global cooperation and coordination can national law enforcement effectively combat what is an epidemic of cybercrime,” said Stock, in a press release, published this Monday (29).
Cybercrime Squid Game (Round 6)
A campaign intercepted by operation HAECHI-II, in Colombia, identified cybercriminals sharing a fake application about the South Korean series, Round 6 (Squid Game) from Netflix, which in reality provided remote access, data and control of the infected device to cybercriminals. Also in Colombia, a fabric manufacturer lost more than US$8 million (R$44 million) after falling victim to an email phishing campaign.
“The perpetrators pretended to be the company’s legal representative, ordering the transfer of more than US$16 million [R$ 89 milhões] to two Chinese bank accounts. Half of the money was transferred before the company discovered the fraud and alerted Colombian judicial authoritieswho in turn contacted INTERPOL’s financial crimes unit through its National Central Office (NCB) in Bogotá,” the corporation revealed.
In another case, in Slovenia, cybercriminals transferred more than US$800,000 (R$4,400) to bank accounts in China. According to the corporation, in this case, all stolen funds were recovered.
“Online scams, such as those using malicious apps, evolve as quickly as the cultural trends they opportunistically exploit. Sharing information about emerging threats is vital to the police’s ability to protect victims of online financial crime. It also lets police know that no country is alone in this fight. Operation HAECHI-II shows that we can successfully counter this threat when we act together“, concluded the director of criminal networks at InterpolJosé de Gracia.
See the original post at: TheHack
