Spanish and Italian Police Break Up Phishing Gang

Spanish and Italian Police Break Up Phishing Gang
Europol: Illegal Operation Connected to Italian Mafia Doug Olenick (DougOlenick) • September 20, 2021    

The Spanish and Italian national police agencies, in conjunction with Europol have arrested 106 individuals who allegedly are linked to the Italian mafia on a variety of online fraud charges that earned the group at least 10 million euros ($11.7 million) in illegal profits.


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Spanish and Italian law enforcement officers concluded a yearlong operation dubbed "Fontana-Almabahia" that culminated in 16 house searches, froze 118 bank accounts and seized hundreds of credit cards, SIM cards, POS terminals and other electronic devices, Europol announced Monday.


"The suspects defrauded hundreds of victims through phishing attacks and other types of online fraud such as SIM swapping and business email compromise before laundering the money through a wide network of money mules and shell companies," Europol says. "Last year alone, the illegal profit is estimated at about 10 million [euros]."


In addition to online crime, those arrested allegedly were also involved in money laundering, drug trafficking and property crime. The majority of the arrests were made in Spain, Europol says.



Operaban desde el sur de #Tenerife y blanqueaban dinero para clanes mafiosos italianos

Se han realizado 16 registros en #España e spanish italian police break phishing