SEIZURE: Money, mobile phones and computers were seized during the operation. Photo: Ecocrime
Three Romanian men were arrested in an operation in Romania yesterday. Two of them have been requested extradited by Økokrim, charged with gross fraud and ID theft in Norway.
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Økokrim has since January this year investigated a large number of frauds committed against at least 400 Norwegians who have been tricked into giving their own Bank ID to fraudsters in Romania. The total loss is probably many millions of kroner.
– The police have received well over 100 reports in the case, says state attorney Anne Glede Allum to VG.
MANGE: Police officers from the Romanian National Police took part in the operation yesterday, with crews from Økokrim present. The image has been anonymised by the police. Photo: The police
Two of the accused Romanians will be requested to be extradited to Norway.
– The investigation so far shows that the frauds are managed from Romania. We are still early in the investigation and are keeping all possibilities open, says Allum.
DARK NUMBERS: Public prosecutor Anne Glede Allum believes there are large hidden numbers, for example in cases where the victim has not reported because the bank has covered the loss. Photo: Espen Rasmussen / VG
Tricked sellers of cars on Finn.no
The scam has involved the perpetrators sending an SMS to people who have recently received an approved sales notification for vehicles in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration’s self-service solution.
The recipient has thus received a false message that the sales notification on the vehicle has not been approved, and that they had to follow a link in the SMS to be approved again.
– In previous cases, we have seen that perpetrators have followed finn.no to get information. We believe that has also happened in this case, in that the perpetrators have followed car advertisements and when they are registered as sold there, says Allum to VG.
FAKE: This is what the fake Bank ID used by the fraudsters looked like. Photo: Fraud page
By clicking on the fake link, the victims came to a phishing phishing Phishing is an English term which in Norwegian can be translated to phishing. The word is used in connection with digital security, and is linked to the concept of social manipulation.-page which appears as the Swedish Road Administration’s site for registering sales notices, but which does not belong to the Swedish Road Administration.
The purpose of the fraud has been to steal BanklD information in order to gain access to the victim’s bank accounts. Furthermore, the perpetrators have transferred money from these bank accounts to other bank accounts and crypto services, which they dispose of.
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More than 10,000 fake SMS
The perpetrators are said to have sent out more than 10,000 targeted SMS messages that appear to have been sent from the Norwegian Road Administration, and the police have reviewed a large number of reports during the investigation.
Complicated fraud cases with traces abroad are often not a priority in the individual police districts.
– This is both time-consuming and there are few tracks to work with. It is therefore important to see cases across the police districts in context, says Allum, who emphasizes that coordination with the different police districts has been part of the job.
SEIZURE: Money, mobile phones and computers were seized during the operation. Photo: The police
Økokrim assumes that there are large numbers of hidden figures in the case.
– We encourage anyone who has been exposed to fraud, where they have followed a link from the National Roads Administration, to report it to their local police. The same applies to all other frauds you are exposed to. Each individual case can contribute important information, and the best possible basis for further investigation, says Allum.
Received assistance from the banking sector
During the investigation, Økokrim has had good cooperation with private actors, such as BankID and Visma.
– The private actors have contributed to the police being able to identify people who we believe are behind the digital frauds in Norway. It has been an important contribution to the investigation, and we would like to thank them for their good cooperation. Økokrim has also received invaluable help and support from Romania’s DIICOT (Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism) and the national police in Romania (Romanian National Police – Combatting Organized Crime Directorate, Cybercrime Unit), says Allum.
PS: Økokrim will open next year national fraud center at Gjøvik, which will work more purposefully to combat organized digital fraud.
Published:
Published: 11.10.23 at 07:59
Updated: 11.10.23 at 08:31
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2023-10-11 05:59:19
#Ecocrime #fraud #operation #Romania
