November 21, 2023.- The Civil Guard has proceeded to the arrest in Barcelona of 2 people and to the investigation of 56 others. This intervention has made it possible to dismantle a criminal organization (based in Barcelona) dedicated to bank smishing.
Four of these people are charged with the crimes of belonging criminal organization and fraud and the other 54 are charged with the crime of fraud.
The money scammed to clients of financial institutions amounts to a total of 129,000 euros obtained in 40 scams. These victims reside in the province of Zamora and denounced the first facts in the month of June 2022.
In this case, this form of crime was directed towards a specific group of people, all of them clients of financial institutions supplanted by the fraudsters.
From here they start using “social engineering”, combining messaging packages and fake phone calls to impersonate a legitimate source (bank) and request confidential information, such as passwords and bank account numbers.
These messaging packages are intended to deceive the customer by understanding that it comes from their bank, through false information under the pretext of improper access to their account, transfer of funds etc.…, while attaching a link that should redirect them to the supposed bank website to solve the alleged problem.
This fake SMS is included in the group of real SMS messages received with the notifications of payment authorizations when performing any type of operation with the aforementioned bank entity.
The cybercriminal has already prepared all its infrastructure consisting of the cloning of the bank’s website into servers prepared for web hosting and computer material that simulates telephone calls on behalf of the financial entity.
When the victim accesses through the fake link (which comes to him along with the aforementioned message) he redirects him to the cloned web of the cybercriminal (specifically the home page where the passwords are entered, WEB SPOOFING) taking the access keys of the users.
Later a phone call is received, appearing on the mobile of the injured the official number of the bank entity (CALL SPOOFING) informing (the cybercriminal) of the alleged problem that is happening, requesting the keys that have been sent to the victim by SMS to be able to solve it.
Through this deception and facilitated the keys of the operation is when the scam is consumed, the cybercriminal transferring the funds, performing a BIZUM, on-line purchases, investments in cryptoassets or immediate transfers.
In this case, most of these funds were transferred to a bank account of another third person, who acts as a “bank mule”, this person, in turn, transfers the funds to the cybercriminal in exchange for financial compensation, which in some cases is not necessary because he has ceded control of his bank accounts to the fraudster.
This police operation began in May 2023 with the transfer to the Team @ of the Zamora Command of the first reports of Zamoranos who had been victims of this scam, in Benavente, investigating a total of 40 crimes.
There have been more than 200 banking operations detected and investigated as fraudulent, the total amount of the cheated economic amount amounting to ms of 180,000 euros; being able to block part of the money, by the banking entity 51,000 euros and at the request of the Civil Guard 53,000€ for fraudulent operations.
With the data obtained in the first investigations it was possible to identify the so-called “bank mules” and later reach the alleged perpetrators of one of the criminal organizations, which reside in the province of Barcelona.
It has been an important police deployment carried out by the Civil Guard of Zamora and specifically by components of the Team @ and the U.O.P.J. and developed in the provinces Barcelona, Tarragona, Madrid, Granada, Valencia, Huelva, Girona and Albacete, as well as the home registry of 2 homes in the Barcelona town of Castellar del Vallés.
This operation ends with the investigation of 56 people as alleged perpetrators of one or several fraud crimes and two of them for belonging to a criminal organization. Two other persons were also arrested as alleged perpetrators of the crimes of fraud and belonging to a criminal organization.
In the development of the operation, 2 home searches were carried out in the town of Castellar del Vallés in the province of Barcelona, where computer material worth thousands of euros was seized.
This operation is not fully concluded and part of the investigations are continuing, with the prospect of more people being investigated for these events.
“SMS SPOOFING” technique
Customers receive SMS messages on a massive scale, supplanting the bank as the sender of them, using the technique known as “SMS SPOOFING”.
They warn of unauthorized access to their accounts and are required to immediately verify such operations through an access link that directs them to a web page, identical to that of their bank, which is controlled by cybercriminals to seize access data to bank accounts.
Technique called “CALL-SPOOFING”
Since criminals need the security codes that the bank sends to the account holder’s mobile to authorize each operation (for users with double authentication factor), fraudsters use a new technique called “CALLER ID SPOOFING”. In this way, they manage to replace the real phone number of the bank branch, calling the injured, those who alert them of the fraudulent operations in their account, and request the security codes they receive by SMS for the cancellation of the alleged operations, thus managing to culminate the deception and consummate the scam.
Tips to avoid falling victim to these scams
- Never provide personal or banking data via telephone or via SMS. Banking entities will never request personal information by these means.
- If you suspect that a call may be fraudulent, hang up immediately and call your bank (customer service or the usual branch).
- Never provide passwords over the phone. Banking entities will never request this type of information by this means.
- Always use the official applications of banking institutions. Never access online banking through links contained in SMS or emails.
“The Civil Guard recommends citizens to download the ALERTCOPS APP to contact the Operational Centers of the State Security Forces and Corps in case of emergency.
The app allows you to receive warning messages on your mobile phone when it is in an area affected by incidents.
The S.O.S. button is now available. application, for VIOGEN victims and healthcare personnel.