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. Thinking they were viewing their own bank accounts through this website, the victims were duped into providing their banking credentials to the suspects.
The investigative leads suggest that the criminal network managed to steal several million EUR from their victims with this fraudulent activity. They used money mules to transfer these funds from the victim's accounts and to cash out the fraudulently obtained money. Members of the group have also related to cases of drugs trafficking and possible firearms trafficking.
Europol facilitated the information exchange, the operational coordination and provided analytical support for investigation. During the operation, Europol deployed three experts to the Netherlands to provide real-time analytical support to investigators on the ground, forensics, and technical expertise.
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