Threat Management, Malware

49 arrested in Europe for phishing, MitM scheme that netted millions of euro

A collaboration between Europol and various EU law enforcement organizations led to the arrest Tuesday of 49 believed to have been part of cybercrime gang that defrauded victims out of six million euro.

The suspects allegedly used man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks and phishing schemes to gain access to corporate email accounts belonging to European companies in order to monitor their payment requests. The scammers then contacted the company's customers, posing as the legitimate company, and instructed them to send payments to the illegitimate accounts where the money was laundered, according to a release.

The operation was led by Italian, Spanish, and Polish authorities with support from counterparts in the U.K., Belgium and Georgia. Most of the suspects were from Nigeria, Cameroon and Spain.

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