NEWS
Leading crime fighter warns of social
engineering fraudsters
E
uropol’s Head of the European Serious Organised Crime Centre,
Jari Liukku, has spoken about the little-known tricks of social
engineering fraudsters: “Social engineering-based fraud remains
one of the most significant transnational crime threats to European
Union citizens, as well as to private and public sector organisations.
Billions in criminal profit are made every year by international
organised crime groups in what is considered to be the second
biggest source of criminal proceeds after drug trafficking.
Internationally coordinated investigations, like operation Valcea-
Cruces, are a clear indicator of what can be achieved when
European Union law enforcement agencies work together with the
support of Europol and Eurojust. Nevertheless, despite the various
efforts made, the threat of social engineering fraud remains high.”
Operation Valcea-Cruces began in early 2017 when law enforcement
authorities exchanged information on different fraud cases. The busted
crime ring, operating in different cells across Europe, was led from
Romania where five individuals were arrested alongside 14 in Spain,
resulting in 33 arrests in total during the course of the investigations.
The criminal group was dismantled by the Spanish National Police,
Mossos d’Esquadra and the Romanian Police with active support and
coordination from Europol and Eurojust. The organised crime group
operated in two ways:
• Posing as suppliers for public sector organisations and claiming
organisations had payments outstanding. Once contact had been
established, the organisations were told to transfer money to a
new bank account, in reality opened by a money mule
• Committing online fraud against private bodies either by phishing
or copying pictures from websites and republishing them,
pretending to be official rental websites
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Fiera Infrastructure to acquire telecom
fibre infrastructure platform
F
iera Infrastructure, a leading global mid-market direct
infrastructure investor and an affiliate of Fiera Capital Corporation,
a leading independent management firm, has announced that it
has entered into a definitive agreement to