Europol has dismantled a Franco-Israeli ‘CEO fraud’ group that employed business email compromise (BEC) attacks to divert payments from organizations to bank accounts under the threat actor's control.
In one case against a single company, the fraudsters managed to pilfer €38,000,000 ($40.3M) within a couple of days, quickly moving the money across Europe, China, and eventually cashing out in Israel.
The investigation that led to the dismantling of the criminal network was a joint operation between Europol, French, Croatian, Hungarian, Portuguese, and Spanish police forces.
During the crackdown operation, the law enforcement authorities performed eight house searches seizing electronic equipment and cars and freezing bank accounts holding a total of €5,100,000 and another €350,000 in digital assets.
Moreover, the police arrested eight suspects (six in France and two in Israel), French and Israeli nationals, including the group leader, who was based in Israel.
The law enforcement operation unfolded gradually over five days between January 2022 and January 2023.
