RGP helps nab international cybercrime gang

The Royal Gibraltar Police helped German authorities to investigate an international criminal network that identified victims in 180 countries and caused over €6m in damages to online banking systems in Germany.

The criminal network launched mass global malware attacks and ‘money mule’ campaigns targeting online banking systems and causing hundreds of millions of Euros of damage worldwide

Investigators from across the globe including the RGP made enquiries in 30 different countries, with Gibraltar being one of them.

Five “top level cybercriminals” were arrested, 37 premises were searched and 39 servers were seized, according to the RGP.

The criminal group sent more than one million emails with damaging attachments or links weekly to unsuspecting victims.

Throughout the four-year investigation, the RGP worked closely with the US State Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the FBI, Europol and Eurojust.

“The investigation commenced in 2012 after an encryption ransomware infected a substantial number of computer systems, blocking users’ access,” a police spokesman said.

“Millions of private and business computer systems were also infected with malware, enabling the criminals to harvest bank and email passwords.”

With these details the fraudsters would perform bank transfers from the victim’s accounts to themselves.

The Royal Gibraltar Police’s Economic Crime Unit recently received a letter of thanks from the Public Prosecutor’s Officer in Verden and the Luneberg Police in Germany.

In the letter of thanks, the German authorities highlighted the importance of international co-operation.

“Working together, we can really make a difference in the battle against cybercrime. None of this success would have been possible without your commitment and patient and tireless work,” a German spokesman said.