Bulgarian Organized Crime Ring Busted for Electronic Payment Fraud and Currency Counterfeiting
Arrest of 11 Individuals in International Crackdown
Bulgarian and French authorities announced the arrest of 11 individuals in connection with an international organized crime network suspected of engaging in electronic payment fraud and currency counterfeiting.
Raids Carried Out in Bulgaria
On May 20, authorities conducted 29 raids in Bulgaria, primarily in the cities of Silistra, Varna, and Razgrad. The raids were carried out in collaboration with the European Cybercrime Centre at Europol and Eurojust.
Discovery of Skimming Equipment Production Sites
During the searches, authorities uncovered three production sites for skimming equipment in Varna. Seized items included:
- Micro camera bars
- Card readers
- Electronic components
- Plastic cards ready to be encoded
- Complete equipment to create counterfeit bank cards
- Magnetic stripe readers and writers
- Computers
- Phones
- Flash drives
Counterfeit Bank Cards Used for ATM Withdrawals
The suspects are accused of harvesting financial data from ATMs in various European Union countries to create fake payment cards. These counterfeit cards were allegedly used to withdraw large sums of cash from ATMs outside the EU, including in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Europol’s Perspective on the Transnational Nature of the Crime
Europol Director Rob Wainwright commented on the significance of the operation against payment fraud:
“Crime is increasingly conducted online and is increasingly transnational. This operation against payment fraud shows the international scale of organized crime and the impact it has on our citizens, businesses, and our collective security.”
Previous Success Against Malware Distribution Network
Last month, Europol, in partnership with international law enforcement, took down a criminal network responsible for creating, distributing, and using the BlackShades malware, resulting in over 90 arrests.
Ongoing Investigation
The Bulgarian authorities and Europol are continuing their investigation into the case and have not yet released the names of the detained individuals.