An action day performed in Latvia on 10 October 2025 led to the arrest of five cybercriminals of Latvian nationality and the seizure of infrastructure used to enable crimes against thousands of victims across Europe.
During the operation codenamed ‘SIMCARTEL’, law enforcement arrested two further suspects, took down five servers and seized 1 200 SIM box devices alongside 40 000 active SIM cards. Investigators from Austria, Estonia and Latvia, together with their colleagues at Europol und Eurojust, were able to attribute to the criminal network more than 1 700 individual cyber fraud cases in Austria and 1 500 in Latvia, with a total loss of several million euros. The financial loss in Austria alone amounts to around EUR 4.5 million, as well as EUR 420 000 in Latvia.
Read more…
Source: Europol
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Germany: Use of non-secure line behind Taurus talk leak to Russia
March 5, 2024
The Ministry of Defence blamed an unnamed individual’s improper use of a “non-secure data line” for the recent leak of a German army conversation about the Taurus weapon system to Russia. The mistake was made by the participant who took part in the conversation from Singapore and had dialled in via a “non-secure data line” such ...
- The 32nd International Defense Industry Exhibition MSPO will take place from 3 to 6 September 2024 in Kielce, Poland
March 1, 2024
MSPO is undoubtedly a presentation platform for the global defence industry’s most outstanding achievements. MSPO is also abounds with business meetings and contracts concluded between manufacturers and the defence sector institutions from different continents. For 32 years, in the context of Europe’s defence industry expos, Kielce has come at par with Eurosatory in Paris and ...
- Ireland: Dept of Foreign Affairs investigating potential cybersecurity incident
February 29, 2024
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has said that it is investigating a potential cybersecurity incident involving its systems. The DFA said that it was notified by Ireland’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) yesterday about the possible security breach and is working closely with the NCSC to establish whether this allegation is authentic. It follows reports ...
- European diplomats targeted by SPIKEDWINE with WINELOADER
February 27, 2024
Zscaler’s ThreatLabz discovered a suspicious PDF file uploaded to VirusTotal from Latvia on January 30th, 2024. This PDF file is masqueraded as an invitation letter from the Ambassador of India, inviting diplomats to a wine-tasting event in February 2024. The PDF also included a link to a fake questionnaire that redirects users to a malicious ZIP ...
- Lockbit cybercrime gang says it is back online following global police bust
February 26, 2024
Lockbit, the cybercrime gang that was knocked offline by a comprehensive international police operation earlier this month, says it has restored its servers and is back in business. The group, notorious on the internet’s criminal underground for using malicious software called ransomware to digitally extort its victims, was the target of an unprecedented international law enforcement ...
- Europol: Tips & advice to prevent ransomware from infecting your electronic devices
February 21, 2024
Ransomware is a type of malware that locks your computer and mobile devices or encrypts your electronic files, demanding a ransom payment through certain online payment methods (and by an established deadline) in order to regain control of your data. It can be downloaded through fake application updates or by visiting compromised websites. It can also ...