Europol published the following release on September 19:
Europol has supported European and Latin American authorities in dismantling an international criminal network engaged in unlocking stolen or lost mobile phones through a phishing platform.
Investigators reported 483 000 victims worldwide, who had attempted to regain access to their phones and been phished in the process. The victims are mainly Spanish-speaking nationals from European, North American and South American countries.
The successful operation took place thanks to international cooperation between law enforcement and judiciary authorities from Spain, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
The action week took place between 10 and 17 September and resulted in 17 arrests, 28 searches and 921 items seized, mainly mobile phones but also other electronic devices, vehicles and weapons.
A complex criminal web
The administrator of the phishing platform, an Argentinian national, was arrested during the large-scale law enforcement operation. He had been developing and running phishing services since 2018. On this occasion, he had been offering a phishing-as-a-service platform for unlocking mobile phones for the last 5 years.
The criminal sold access to his website and charged extra costs for phishing, SMS, emails or call performing. Criminal users of the platform –or “unlockers”– provided phone unlocking services to other criminals in possession of stolen phones.
Investigators identified more than 2 000 unlockers who had been registered in the phishing platform over the years. The investigation revealed that the criminal network had unlocked over 1.2 million mobile phones.
Europol’s role
For the first time, Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) coordinated an international operation together with the Specialised Cybercrime Centre of Ameripol, the Police Community of the Americas.
The action week was the result of a long-run investigation starting in 2022. After receiving information from a private company (Group-IB), Europol provided the affected countries with dedicated packages regarding the case. After months of investigation, the countries managed to identify most of the victims and took action against the criminal network.
During the investigation, Europol coordinated the authorities involved in the case and provided them with analytical support. An expert from Europol was deployed to Argentina and Spain to provide their expertise in the field during the action week.
Law enforcement authorities involved:
- Spain: Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional) and Spanish Guardia Civil (Guardia Civil)
- Argentina: Argentine National Gendarmerie (Gendarmería Nacional Argentina) and Argentine Federal Police (Policía Federal Argentina)
- Chile: Chilean Investigative Police (Policía de Investigaciones de Chile)
- Colombia: Colombia National Police (Policía Nacional de Colombia)
- Ecuador: National Police of Ecuador (Policía Nacional de Ecuador)
- Peru: National Police of Peru (Policía Nacional de Perú)
Other partners involved:
- Ameripol – AC3, Specialised Cybercrime Centre (Centro Especializado de Cibercrimen)
- EL PACCTO – Europe Latin America Assistance Program against Transnational Organised Crime (Europa Latinoamérica Programa de Asistencia contra el Crimen Transnacional Organizado)
Do not take the bait
Phishing refers to fraudulent emails coming from criminals posing as legitimate senders that trick the receivers into taking an action or sharing their personal, financial or security information.
The messages usually:
- look identical to messages from a reputable organisation or service provider;
- sound urgent;
- claim to enclose important or breaking news;
- ask you to take action, such as clicking attachments and links or confirming your login credentials.
What can you do if you click something?
- Use antivirus software on all your electronic devices.
- Ensure that your security software and operating systems are up-to-date.
- Set up unique passwords for all your online accounts.
- Think twice before clicking on any links and attachments as criminals could be trying to phish or smish you. If you’re in doubt, don’t click links, open attachments or reply and certainly don’t give out any financial information.
Source: Europol