14 DAY TRIAL // An organized crime network composed of more than 100 individuals, most of them Romanian nationals, has been dismantled by the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) at Europol and law enforcement agencies in France and Romania.
The cybercriminals conducted payment crimes that involved intrusions into international non-cash payment systems, through malware infections of computers.
They would compromise the machines of franchisees authorized to perform money transfers using a remote access tool that integrated key-logging functionality.
According to information from the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), the gang targeted the computer systems of copy-shop businesses located in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Norway, and the UK, that would also have installed money transfer services.
After stealing the operator’s credentials, they were able to initiate money transfer orders from a fictitious sender to a real individual who was usually based in Romania and who would pick up the money from another operator. This activity would sometimes be carried out using mobile phones.
DIICOT says that the money losses were entirely supported by the affected franchisees, and as a result of this sort of fraudulent activity, one of them registered a loss of more than $800,000 / €591,000.
Europol estimates that the total prejudice created by the cybercriminal organization is of at least €2 / $2.7 million. “The proceeds of their crimes were invested in different types of property, deposited in bank accounts or transferred electronically to hide their illicit origin.”
Out of the more than 115 individuals suspected of having ties with the criminal group, 65 were detained as a result of coordinated raids that took place at addresses in Romania and France.
The authorities seized large amounts of money, luxury cars, and IT equipment. About 450 police officers were involved in the operation and 117 house search warrants were executed, 112 at addresses in Romania.
Europol and DIICOT found evidence that this was not the only illicit activity conducted by the crime group, as they were also involved in card skimming in the metropolitan area of Paris and drug trafficking.
“As a direct result of the excellent cooperation and outstanding work by police officers and prosecutors from Romania, France and other European countries, a key criminal network has been successfully taken down this week. EC3's role was to effectively facilitate international cooperation, including the exchange of intelligence, and to provide resources where needed.
“After many months and a great effort from all involved, many individuals have now been detained after key locations were identified and targeted by law enforcement,” said Troels Oerting, Head of the EC3.
The law enforcement agencies involved in dismantling this crime ring included DIICOT from Craiova city, Romanian National Police and the Brigade for Combating Organized Crime from Craiova, the Service of Intelligence and Internal Protection (DGIPI) from the same city, the National Intelligence Service (SRI), and the Brigade of Combating Payment Fraud in Paris of the Judicial French Police (BFMP DPJ).