The National Police of Spain have arrested two hackers, 15 members of a criminal organization, and another 23 people involved in illegal financial operations in Madrid and Seville for alleged bank scams.
The cybercrime operation involves an email and SMS-based phishing campaign that allegedly scammed over 300,000 people and resulted in confirmed losses of at least 700,000 euros ($770k).
The police announced that 40 people have been arrested, accused of the crimes belonging to a criminal organization, bank scam, documentary falsification, identity theft, and money laundering.
The gang used hacking tools and business logistics to carry out computer scams.
According to the police’s cybercrime unit investigation, the members of the Trinitarios organization allegedly used stolen credit cards to purchase cryptocurrency, which was then exchanged with fiat money going into a “common box.”
The card details were stolen from victims who received phishing SMS messages claiming they needed to resolve a security issue with their bank accounts.
The victims followed the link provided in the SMS that leads to a phishing website made to appear as a clone of the legitimate bank portal, where they entered their account credentials.
The hackers monitored the entered data in real-time using phishing panels, and used it to request loans, link new verification phone numbers to the compromised accounts, and link the cards to virtual crypto wallets under their control.
Parallel cash-out systems involved hiring money mules to receive the money through bank transfers, withdrawing it from ATMs, and using PoS (point of sale) terminals belonging to shell online e-commerce businesses to make false purchases.
The stolen amounts were allegedly used for funding the group’s expenses, purchasing drugs and arms, financing meetings, paying lawyers, or sending money directly to imprisoned members of the gang.
Some of the funds were sent to the Dominican Republic, where other group members used the money to purchase real estate.
During the operation, 13 house searches were conducted in Madrid, Seville and Guadalajara, where a list of 300,000 phishing victims was discovered, along with €5000 in cash, computer equipment and devices for picking locks.
The Spanish police are currently working with international partners to locate all stolen amounts and assets derived from crime and potentially recover stolen payments.
Image Credits : Bleeping Computers
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