The operation has been supported by the European Cybercrime Center (EC3)

Apr 11, 2014 09:45 GMT  ·  By

Europol has revealed that law enforcement and other organizations in 32 countries from all over the world have detained 113 people and arrested 70 in an effort to crack down on airline fraudsters.

The list of entities involved in the operation includes 35 airlines, major credit card companies (Visa, MasterCard and American Express), law enforcement agencies, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Secret Service. The Europol’s European Cybercrime Center (EC3) has coordinated the operation on an international level.

“This unprecedented operation clearly shows how crime is evolving on a global scale, with huge implications for citizens, businesses and our collective security,” stated Europol’s Director Rob Wainwright.

Wainwright continued, “But it also shows how the combined forces of the international police community and the private sector are capable of delivering major successes against the criminal syndicates responsible for committing large scale fraud and other offences. Europol pays tribute to all partners involved in this groundbreaking operation.”

This is the second initiative of this kind. Authorities have targeted a total of 68 airports in 24 European Union member states, Iceland, Norway, the USA, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Ukraine and Switzerland.

The goal was to identify those who made suspicious ticket transactions with the aid of fake or stolen payment card information. Airlines, credit card companies and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) provided law enforcement officers with information on individuals suspected of using data stolen via the Internet to purchase flight tickets.

While Europol provided live access to criminal intelligence databases, Interpol assisted in the identification of wanted individuals and stolen travel documents.

A total of 265 suspicious transactions were reported during the operation. 113 people were detained and 70 were arrested in countries like the US, the UK, Austria, Colombia, Bulgaria, Finland, Cyprus, France, Germany, Hungary, Greece, Latvia, Italy, Lithuania, Ireland, Poland, Romania, Portugal, Spain, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.

“For many years, organised cybercriminal networks have relied on the assumption that law enforcement agencies could not work together in cyberspace and act quickly and effectively. This operation again proves them wrong,” said Troels Oerting, head of the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) at Europol.

“Not only have law enforcement agents from several countries worked shoulder to shoulder with EC3 specialists in Europol’s operational centre for several days, but we have also involved experts from the private sector such as airlines and payment services,” Oerting added.