Greek authorities help Europol dismantle hacking ring
Prosecuting authorities from 17 countries, coordinated by their Greek counterparts, dismantled an international hacking ring, which “unlocked” online stores and stole account details of their customers, which they then sold on the dark web.
This cybercriminal activity surged amid the increased shopping during the holiday period. Between January and November 2023, worldwide, 119 million bank cards were issued in this way, with the average charge being 71.5 euros and the losses for the banks exceeding €9 billion.
In collaboration with the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), Europol focused on identifying e-shops that have been or are at risk of digital fraud. Unlike fake e-commerce websites or online stores that suddenly shut down without ever delivering the products, hacked e-shops are much more dangerous because there are no suspicious signs to the consumer.
Europol’s investigation identified 443 websites of online businesses whose data had been intercepted in 17 countries, including the US and Colombia.
Although it is unknown how many of these e-shops there are in Greece, experts believe that this form of digital fraud can go undetected for a long time. The reason is that consumers are unable to identify any suspicious indications during their purchase.
A newly emerging e-shop, for example, offering branded products at extremely low prices reveals, to some extent, possible fraud. This is not the case in a well-established online store, which might become a target for cybercriminals if its programming code or a third-party application reveals a “security hole.”
According to Europol, digital criminals can gain access to the code or even the server and install malware in the payment systems. The hackers then clone the transaction data, creating a very large database of bank card details.
