Fight against cybercrime

Europol busts global phishing network LabHost

Phishing is when cyber criminals throw out bait for their victims - fake emails, WhatsApp messages or other. Don't take the bait!(Bild: ©Maksim Kabakou - stock.adobe.com)

Investigators in 19 countries have taken down one of the world's largest phishing platforms, according to Europol. "LabHost" offered fake websites and software for cyber criminals, according to the European police authority in The Hague. 37 suspects were arrested, including the four suspected masterminds in the UK. The domestic Federal Criminal Police Office (BK) was also involved in the operation.

According to Europol, around 10,000 suspects had used the services of LabHost. The data of around 480,000 credit cards and almost 1.2 million passwords were stolen worldwide. The lead investigators in London suspect that the number of victims is far higher. Not all the data has been analyzed yet, and this part of the investigation is still ongoing in Austria, according to the Federal Criminal Police Office.

The platform offered its services for around 300 US dollars (just over 280 euros) per month. Even inexperienced hackers were able to use fake websites, mainly from banks, postal services and telecommunications companies. They then sent e-mails to their victims asking them to log in to the fake websites via links and disclose their secret numbers or passwords or even pay money.

According to Europol, criminals were able to choose from 170 websites or have them built to order by the platform. According to the information, a total of 70 buildings were searched in the course of the operation from Sunday to Wednesday under the direction of the London police.