Last Updated on 29/11/2021 by Riya
In a worldwide operation on cybercrime, Interpol claims to have detained over 1,000 people and recovered more than $27 million in illicit money. The campaign, dubbed ‘HAECHI-II,’ brought together law enforcement from 20 nations to discover particular kinds of internet fraud, including romance frauds, investment fraud, and money laundering linked to illicit online gaming, according to the international crime bureau.
Overall total, 1,003 people were detained during the four-month investigation, which led detectives to resolve 1,660 cases. Furthermore, 2,350 bank accounts associated with the illegal proceeds of digital financial fraud have been frozen, and over 50 Interpol notifications have been generated, and ten new criminal modes of operation have been uncovered.
According to Interpol, “substantial information on growing patterns in online financial crime” was developed by strong collaborative efforts between specialized police units across the globe. The agency issued many Purple Alerts, which are global police warnings, requesting to reveal data on attackers’ operational strategy, objects, gadgets, and hiding tactics, based on information obtained from Operation HAECHI-II.
The alerts are then disclosed with Interpol’s 194 participating countries, allowing authorities to discuss updates on current illicit techniques and create links between cases.
“A malware-laden mobile application mimicking the identity and trademark of the Netflix series ‘Squid Game’ was disclosed in a Purple Alert issued by Colombia following the investigation,” Interpol added.
“Disguised as a product associated with the widely known tv series, the application was a Trojan horse virus susceptible of hacking the person’s invoice details and subscribing to ‘premium’ services without the person’s explicit agreement whenever installed.”
The rise of digital financial wrongdoing triggered by the coronavirus outbreak, according to Interpol, “reveals little indications of thinning.” The migration to virtual collaborating for several firms around the world has resulted in an upsurge in focused hacking group attempts, as earlier documented by The Daily Swig. Around 1,000 cybercriminals across 20 nations have been arrested by Interpol, with a total value of $27 million recovered.
