EC3 helps to dismantle an international network of payment card fraudsters

Romanian and French law enforcement authorities, supported by the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) at Europol, have successfully dismantled a Romanian organised crime group involved in international payment card skimming and associated fraud.

During a raid on 17 January 2014, 11 suspects were arrested as they planned to travel to Italy to commit skimming attacks. Among them was the leader of the criminal group as well as the financiers.

In addition, 26 premises were searched and illegal equipment seized. Police also dismantled two factories producing skimming devices, including sophisticated miniaturised versions. This activity followed an earlier week-long surveillance exercise carried out by French and Romanian law enforcement officers.

For more information read the related Press Release on the Europol website.

Five Bulgarians arrested for international payment card fraud

Polish National Police, working with the State Agency for National Security in Bulgaria and supported by Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), have smashed an international group of payment card fraudsters.  Five Bulgarian citizens responsible for misusing financial data from several countries, counterfeiting payment cards and making illegal electronic transactions, were arrested in Poland.

Complete equipment to produce counterfeit bank cards was seized and included mag-stripe readers and writers, computers, phones and flash drives.  Police officers also confiscated dozens of forged payment cards with records of PIN numbers, ready to be used at other ATMs, and a vehicle worth over  25,000 euros.

During the investigation, EC3 supported the case by providing tailored intelligence analysis and expertise to the investigators.  It was identified that the compromised data came mainly from the United Kingdom.  The investigation is still on-going and further arrests in the case are expected as suspects were working with gang members from Eastern Europe.

For more information read the related Press Release on the Europol website. A video of the equipment seized can be seen on the website of the Polish Police.

International Network of Latvian Payment Card Fraudsters Dismantled

The European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) at Europol, working with police in Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria, Spain, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, have taken down a criminal network of Latvian payment card fraudsters and arrested eight key members of the group.

The criminals were involved in compromising financial data during cash machine transactions across several EU and non-EU countries. The group posed a major threat for electronic payments by misusing European payment card data in remote destinations such as Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Thailand and the US.

EC3 provided operational and analytical support for the Operation, codenamed ' FatBoy', as well as coordinating the international investigations. Europol’s support also increased the efficiency of communication and cross-border analysis.

For more information read the related Press Release on the Europol website

Intercontinental Network of Card Fraudsters Dismantled in Canada and Europe

A major intercontinental network of card fraudsters has been recently dismantled by cooperating Canadian, French and German police authorities, supported by Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3).

Operation ‘Spyglass’ has so far resulted in the arrest of 29 people. The international criminal group was involved in the sophisticated manipulation of point-of-sale (POS) terminals in shopping centres across Europe and North America.

The final arrests on 29 October 2013 were handled by the Economic Crimes Unit of the Sûreté du Québec and took place in Montreal, Laval, Longueuil, Boucherville, Chambly and Magog, and led to the detention of 16 individuals, including the head of the criminal network from Boucherville (Montreal’s South Shore).

13 other arrests in this case took place in March 2013 in France (7) and Germany (6), with Europol’s support. Hundreds of police officers in the EU and Canada were involved in the operation

For more information read the related Press Release on the Europol website

Europe creates a Cybercrime Centre (EC3)

This month the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) opened in the Hague at Europol.  EC3 will be the focal point in the EU’s fight against cybercrime, contributing to faster reactions in the event of online crimes. It will support Member States and the European Union’s institutions in building operational and analytical capacity for investigations and cooperation with international partners.

Europol supports Geo-Blocking

Europol has just published a ‘Situation Report on Payment Card Fraud in the European Union’ to coincide with the launch of the European Cyber Crime Centre (EC3).  The report which covers 2012, highlights that although overall EU payment card fraud has fallen due to the introduction of EMV (Chip and PIN), whilst the number of payment cards (debit and credit) has risen to over 726 million, international losses (fraud losses outside the EU) continue to rise - and mainly in the USA.  The report states that European Organised Crime Groups (OCGs) are making around 1.5 billion euros annually from payment card fraud.