Police have revealed that university students are turning to cyber fraud to increase their income, and have hacked into a huge phishing site on the dark web that scammed tens of thousands of people.
The site, called LabHost, has been active since 2021 and is a cyber-fraud superstore that allows users to create authentic-looking websites from well-known companies such as big banks, and has been used by 70,000 people around the world, including 70,000 people in the UK. ensnared the victim.
Victims entered sensitive information, some of which was used to steal money, while those behind the site made money by selling the details on the dark web for use by fraudsters. I was also getting
The Metropolitan Police Department said the victims were mainly between the ages of 25 and 44 and conducted most of their lives online.
Police believe they have arrested one of the site’s main alleged ringleaders, one of 37 suspects detained across the UK and overseas this week. The Metropolitan Transport Authority said the arrests were made at Manchester, Luton, Essex and London airports.
British police are under pressure to show they are successful in tackling a surge in cyber fraud.
Although the intrusion into this site is small compared to the scale of the problem, police plan to shatter the confidence of criminals who believe they can act with impunity and take down even more cyber-fraud sites. is standing.
Fraud and cybercrime are seen as difficult to solve within police forces as they compete for resources with other crime priorities, such as protecting children and strengthening the protection of women, which is widely seen as insufficient. ing.
For now, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is celebrating success. In the UK, 25,000 victims were contacted and the site’s main users were arrested. However, some of those who used it are not detained because their true identities remain unknown to law enforcement authorities.
LabHost collected 480,000 debit or credit card numbers, 64,000 PIN numbers, and made over £1 million in membership fees alone from 2,000 people (up to £300 per month) paid in cryptocurrency. The company advertised itself as a “one-stop shop for fishing.”
We provided tutorial videos on how to use the site to commit crimes, as well as videos on how to use new consumer products. In the video, the company said it would take five minutes to install the software and would provide “customer service” if there were any problems. Finally, we would like to ask criminal users to “stay safe and spam appropriately.”
DI Oliver Richter said five years ago that cyber fraudsters would need technical skills, such as being able to code. Current users range from late teens to late 20s.
“Many of these users are young, in college, and very likely to go on to a perfectly legitimate career,” he said.
“They think this is very easy and anonymous.
“I think they’re approaching this without fully understanding the risks and potential consequences.”
After the site was disrupted, 800 users received a message saying police “know who they are and what they’re doing.”
Police have not said how they got into the inner workings of the June 2022 crime scene.
Detective Inspector Helen Rance, head of the Metropolitan Police’s cybercrime unit, said the “incredibly sophisticated” LabHost bust was part of the Met’s efforts to target those who “industrialized” crimes such as fraud. , said 17 factions around the world were involved. private sector.
She said: “We were able to successfully penetrate this service and were able to confirm who was responsible and the scale of the operation.”
