Ukrainian police have arrested nine cybercriminals for their involvement in a large-scale phishing scam. They sent victims to EU-like web pages, with the aim of defrauding them for money.
The group sent about 400 links to Ukrainian citizens. In the reports, the criminals pretended to be employees of the European Union. They promised to provide social benefits to victims in need of financial assistance.
To qualify, they had to fill out surveys on a website that looked like a European page. The data entered by the people was used to gather more information about the victims. On the page, the victims also found a form that they must fill out if they want to receive financial assistance.
This is how criminals got a lot of personal data and banking information. Then they were abused by withdrawing money from the accounts.
At least 5,000 people were killed, according to the National Bank of Ukraine, which helped police in the investigation. They lost almost 3.3 million euros.
The nine suspects are suspected of fraud and may face a maximum prison sentence of 15 years if found guilty.
