Police disrupted a criminal group for embezzlement of bank accounts and money laundering

Hackers and financial mules were detained by the directorate for combatting organised crime in a specialised police operation on the territory of several districts on June 6.

The disrupted criminal group was siphoning off bank accounts, and according to preliminary data, the damages caused are close to BGN 1 million. The Sofia City Prosecutor's Office indicted 11 people. One of them will be responsible for computer crime, the rest - for money laundering.

Old but golden to the criminal world is the scheme that stung more than 10 people and companies for a period of few months last year.

"One part of this is phishing campaigns of banks asking for confirmation of usernames and passwords of internet banking accounts, also campaigns regarding a message claiming to be from a legitimate source. Their goal is to download an attachment and compromise the computer configuration," explained Assen Kunchev, Head of Combatting Cyberattacks and Financial Fraud on the Internet, CDCOC

Once the device is infected, the door to internet banking is open. From there, the money of the person who fell for the bait is drained.

The criminal group that drained bank cards operated with phishing attacks.

"They were sent to the account of financial mules, who had previously opened accounts for them in Bulgarian banks. They were withdrawn from ATMs, some of the funds were sent to cryptocurrency trading exchanges in order to facilitate their absorption and, accordingly, legalize their origin," Assen Kunchev said.

Police and experts have been warning about the scheme for years. Hundreds of thousands of phishing emails have to Bulgarian users been detected, mostly on behalf of the NRA, traffic police, banks and stores for technical apliances.

"The goal is to take your username and password so hackers can bank on your behalf and to your detriment," said cyber expert Lyubomir Tulev.

However, there are still victims of the scam.