Europol Takes Down Cybercrime Network in Latvia, Seizes $330,000 in Crypto

Europol has seized $330,000 in crypto and arrested seven individuals as part of the takedown of a cybercrime-as-a-service network operating out of Latvia.

Codenamed SIMCARTEL, the Europol- and Eurojust-led operation seized 1,200 SIM box devices and 40,000 SIM cards, which the network provided to fraudsters in various countries.

The operation also featured collaboration from investigators in Austria, where losses from related frauds totalled $5.2 million, and in Latvia, where losses amounted to $487,663.

Europol described the cybercrime network and its infrastructure as “technically highly sophisticated,” with the network providing telephone numbers to individuals and entities in more than 80 countries.

The numbers were used to set up fake Internet and social media accounts, which in turn were used to conduct frauds while hiding the true identities and locations of perpetrators.

Crimes committed using the network’s infrastructure including phishing and smishing, fraud, extortion, migrant smuggling and the distribution of child abuse material.

More specific examples include fraud on online marketplaces, ‘new-number’ WhatsApp scams, investment fraud, and even fake shopping and banking websites.

In addition to the seven arrests and the seizure of SIM cards and SIM boxes, authorities also seized five servers hosting the online infrastructure, two websites advertising the network’s services, four luxury vehicles, and “hundreds of thousands” of additional SIM cards.

The $330,000 in crypto seized was not broken down according to specific tokens, while Europol also froze $500,000 in the suspects’ bank accounts.

Investigators attributed over 1,700 cyber-fraud cases to the network in Austria, and around 1,500 in Latvia, attesting to the scope of the network and the activity it facilitated.

Targeting cybercrime

Europol’s action comes amid an increase in internationally coordinated efforts to combat cybercrime networks, many of which tend to operate or store proceeds using crypto.

In September, Interpol seized $97 million in crypto, and $439 million in total, as part of an action that spanned 40 countries.

In August, another Interpol action, this time focused in Africa, resulted in the arrest of 1,200 individuals, as well as the dismantling of 25 crypto mining facilities and the seizure of $97.4 million.

Such law enforcement actions take place as NGOs report on the “growing role” crypto plays in crime in the Western Balkans, for example, where drug-trafficking groups are using cryptocurrencies to hide and move their profits.