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17 arrests in an operation against a phishing platform.
Europol, together with law enforcement agencies in Europe and Latin America, carried out a successful operation to dismantle an international criminal network. The group specialized in illegally unlocking stolen or lost mobile phones using a phishing platform.
According to the investigation, more than 483,000 people around the world became victims of fraudsters. Among the victims are mainly Spanish-speaking citizens from Europe, North and South America, who were trying to restore access to their phones.
The large-scale operation took place from September 10 to 17 with the participation of law enforcement and judicial authorities of Spain, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. As a result, 17 arrests were made, 28 searches were carried out and 921 items of property were seized, mainly mobile phones, but also other electronic devices, cars and weapons.
The main defendant in the case was an Argentine citizen who administered a phishing platform. He has been developing and providing phishing services since 2018. For the past 5 years, the criminal has been selling access to his site and charging extra for phishing, SMS, emails, and phone calls. Users of the platform, the so-called "unblockers", provided services to unlock phones to other criminals who owned stolen devices.
Investigators have identified more than 2,000 "unblockers" registered on the phishing platform over the entire period of its existence. According to the investigation, the criminal network managed to unlock over 1.2 million mobile phones.
Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) coordinated an international operation for the first time together with Ameripol's Specialised Centre for Cybercrime. The investigation began in 2022 after receiving information from the private company Group-IB. Europol provided member states with special data packages on the case, which made it possible to identify most of the victims and take action against the criminal network.
Source
Europol, together with law enforcement agencies in Europe and Latin America, carried out a successful operation to dismantle an international criminal network. The group specialized in illegally unlocking stolen or lost mobile phones using a phishing platform.
According to the investigation, more than 483,000 people around the world became victims of fraudsters. Among the victims are mainly Spanish-speaking citizens from Europe, North and South America, who were trying to restore access to their phones.
The large-scale operation took place from September 10 to 17 with the participation of law enforcement and judicial authorities of Spain, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. As a result, 17 arrests were made, 28 searches were carried out and 921 items of property were seized, mainly mobile phones, but also other electronic devices, cars and weapons.
The main defendant in the case was an Argentine citizen who administered a phishing platform. He has been developing and providing phishing services since 2018. For the past 5 years, the criminal has been selling access to his site and charging extra for phishing, SMS, emails, and phone calls. Users of the platform, the so-called "unblockers", provided services to unlock phones to other criminals who owned stolen devices.
Investigators have identified more than 2,000 "unblockers" registered on the phishing platform over the entire period of its existence. According to the investigation, the criminal network managed to unlock over 1.2 million mobile phones.
Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) coordinated an international operation for the first time together with Ameripol's Specialised Centre for Cybercrime. The investigation began in 2022 after receiving information from the private company Group-IB. Europol provided member states with special data packages on the case, which made it possible to identify most of the victims and take action against the criminal network.
Source
