Six people have been arrested as part of a global take-down of a phone and text message 'spoofing' website which allowed fraudsters to impersonate genuine phone numbers.
Gardai made the arrests following searches in counties Dublin, Meath and Louth. A total of 120 people have been arrested around the world.
As many as twenty people every minute were targeted by callers, and it's estimated victims have lost more than €115 million globally through 'i-Spoof'.
The site iSpoof.cc, was designed to allow people to make calls and texts from ‘spoofed’ numbers that appear to be from genuine numbers such as bank fraud lines, government departments, delivery companies and more, in a cybercrime known as ‘spoofing’.
The Irish phase of the investigation into the site was carried out by Gardaí, who supported the London Metropolitan Police with the evidence-gathering phase of the operation.
An Garda Síochána, joined other authorities across Europe, Australia, the US, Ukraine, and Canada as part of the global criminal investigation.
An Garda Síochána joined International Law Enforcement Authorities in a global criminal investigation which has taken down a website that allowed fraudsters to impersonate trusted corporations or contacts, to access sensitive information. For details: https://t.co/f4LPUajJ8U pic.twitter.com/qdIOvTMCSJ
— Garda Info (@gardainfo) November 24, 2022
Between the 8th and 9th of November, Gardaí carried out 17 searches in Dublin, Meath and Louth and seized 132 electronic devices. Six people were arrested over the two days and 64 suspect bank accounts were also identified.
On 8 November the website and server were seized and taken offline by US and Ukrainian authorities. It has now been replaced by a ‘splash screen video’.
