Europol announced the dismantling of an organized crime group that was involved in phishing, fraud, scams, and money laundering activities.
The cross-border operation, which included law enforcement authorities from Belgium and the Netherlands, saw the arrests of nine individuals in the Dutch nation.
According to the National Police Force, the suspects are men between the ages of 25 and 36 from Amsterdam, Almere, Rotterdam, and Spijkenisse and a 25-year-old woman from Deventer.
As part of 24 house searches, firearms, ammunition, jewelry, designer clothing, expensive watches, electronic devices, tens of thousands of euros in cash, and cryptocurrency were also confiscated.
The agency noted that the criminal group contacted victims by email, text message and through mobile messaging applications. These messages were sent by the members of the gang and contained a phishing link leading to a bogus banking website.
The unsuspecting victims who clicked on the link were tricked into entering their credentials that were then stolen by the syndicate to fraudulently cash out several million euros from the victim’s accounts with the help of money mules.
Besides, some members of the group have connections with drugs and possible firearms trafficking.
Earlier this month, Europol also announced the takedown of FluBot, one of the largest Android malware operations in existence.
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