Watch: Dubai Police dismantle worldwide cybercrime syndicate

Dubai Police have dismantled a world cybercrime syndicate that defrauded main firms in a number of international locations.

A complete of 43 suspects had been arrested within the operation codenamed ‘Monopoly’. The police additionally recognized the gang chief and 20 different accomplices in opposition to whom worldwide arrest warrants had been issued.

The fraudsters focused companies by hacking into their official emails. They additionally used deepfake know-how to impersonate companies’ administrators and persuade department managers to switch cash for non-existent offers.

A specialised anti-cybercrime group traced the group’s two-phase transfers of $36 million.

The criminals employed subtle methods to maneuver cash from one account to a different to cover their tracks earlier than withdrawing it by way of intermediaries and depositing it into specialised cash holding and switch firms.

eCrime.ae

The operation started when a lawyer of an organization in an Asian nation logged a grievance by Dubai Police’s anti-cybercrime platform, e-crime.ae, about a world gang that hacked into the e-mail of the corporate’s CEO, impersonated him, and instructed the accounts supervisor to switch round $19 million to an account in one of many banks in Dubai, claiming the quantity was for the advantage of the corporate’s department within the emirate.

Tracking suspects

Dubai Police’s anti-cybercrime and anti-money laundering departments began tracing the cash’s path and started monitoring the gang members’ actions, luring them to the UAE with out elevating their suspicion.

The account to which the cash was transferred belonged to an individual who opened it in 2018 and had left the nation since.

The gang re-routed the funds by a number of accounts earlier than withdrawing and depositing them in money vaults of specialized cash holding and transport firms.

Hacking one other firm

While the Dubai Police job power was monitoring this case, the gang hacked into the digital communications system of one other firm outdoors the UAE and seized practically $17 million.

The quantity was dealt with in an identical method involving a number of transfers earlier than depositing it into their money vaults.

Dubai Police captured 43 suspects concerned in these crimes and in addition seized luxurious automobiles and costly artworks.

Criminal scheme

The gang members, who primarily focused company executives, enterprise individuals and rich people, carefully monitored the digital actions of their potential targets.

International Cooperation

Dubai Police lauded the worldwide collaboration between police and safety businesses that participated in Operation Monopoly, together with these from France, Hong Kong and Singapore, together with liaison officers in a number of international locations.

This cooperation resulted within the dismantling and disintegration of the gang, underscoring the affect of partnerships between legislation enforcement businesses worldwide to fight transnational organised crime.

@DubaiPoliceHQ’s ‘Monopoly’ operation unveils the arrest particulars of a transnational hacker and fraud community exploiting main enterprises. Unprecedented cooperation and experience highlighted.https://t.co/bIIyJWbrRY pic.twitter.com/G6RxJvC5gC

— Dubai Policeشرطة دبي (@DubaiPoliceHQ) November 9, 2023