European and Latin American authorities arrest 17 in crackdown on phishing network with 483,000 victims

European and Latin American law enforcement officials have arrested 17 suspects in a raid targeting a criminal phishing network that has claimed nearly half a million victims, Europol reported Thursday.

Among those arrested was the Argentine operator of the phishing platform that the alleged criminals used to unlock lost or stolen mobile phones, the European police agency said. Cyber ​​firm Group-IB, which helped law enforcement in the crackdown, said the platform was called iServer.

“Investigators reported 483,000 victims worldwide who had tried to regain access to their phones and had fallen victim to phishing,” Europol said in a press release. “The victims are mainly Spanish-speaking citizens from European, North American and South American countries.”

Europol joined forces with law enforcement agencies in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Spain for the operation, as well as Ameripol, a police organisation for the Americas, and EL PACCTO, a joint European-Latin American organisation working together on transnational crime. It was the first Europol-Ameripol cooperation. Europol shared information with law enforcement agencies that it had obtained from Group-IB.

The repression took place between September 10 and this Tuesday. In addition to the 17 arrests, 28 house searches were carried out and 921 objects were seized: mainly mobile phones, but also other electronic devices, vehicles and weapons.

The criminal network’s platform has been active for five years, Euopol said.

“While iServer was essentially an automated phishing platform, its specific focus on harvesting credentials to unlock stolen phones differentiated it from typical phishing-as-a-service offerings,” Group-IB said in a press release. “iServer’s platform features a web interface that allows low-skilled criminals, known as ‘unlockers,’ to steal device passwords, cloud-based mobile platform user credentials, and other personal information from victims. This allows them to bypass ‘Lost Mode’ and unlock phones that were obtained illicitly.”

Group IB celebrated the operation.

“We are honored to have stopped millions of cyberattacks on mobile users. The arrest of the syndicate members, including the mastermind, has prevented significant fraud and protected the privacy of individuals in several regions,” CEO Dmitry Volkov said in a press release. “This is yet another great example of cross-border cooperation, and we will continue to support local and international law enforcement efforts to combat cybercrime worldwide.”