Interpol coordinated an expansive investigation with 13 countries in the Middle East and North Africa to disrupt and take down cybercrime operations, including phishing services and tools, malware and scams. The law enforcement effort netted 201 arrests, led to the seizure of 53 servers and disrupted multiple cybercrime services, Interpol said Monday.
Operation Ramz, which the law enforcement organization said was the first large-scale effort of its kind in the region, also identified 382 suspects over a four-month period ending in February. The collective countermeasures allowed authorities to pin the various malicious activities to nearly 4,000 victims.
“In a world where cybercriminals exploit the digital landscape without borders, Operation Rams demonstrates the effectiveness of global collaboration,” Neal Jetton, Interpol’s director of cybercrime, said in a statement.
Police in Jordan tracked down a computer involved in financial fraud scams and, during a raid, found 15 people carrying out the scams who were later determined to be victims of human trafficking. The victims were recruited under false promises of employment from their home countries in Asia and had their passports confiscated upon arrival in Jordan, officials said.
A pair of ringleaders behind the operation, who forced or coerced the victims to participate in the scheme, were arrested, according to Interpol.
Law enforcement agencies in Algeria dismantled a phishing service by seizing a server and other devices linked to the operation. Moroccan authorities also seized multiple devices containing banking data and software for phishing operations.
Officials in Oman remediated a server containing sensitive information that was infected with malware, and compromised by vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, investigators in Qatar identified and secured multiple compromised devices that were being used, unbeknownst to their owners, of spreading malicious threats.
Authorities involved in the months-long effort gathered almost 8,000 pieces of data that was shared among participating countries to support ongoing investigations.
Operation Ramz was supported by Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. Multiple companies and organizations also helped Interpol track illegal cyber activities and identify malicious servers, including Group-IB, Kaspersky, the Shadowserver Foundation, Team Cymru and Trend Micro.
“Interpol is dedicated to working with its member countries and private sector partners to take down malicious infrastructure, disrupt criminal groups and bring perpetrators to justice,” Jetton said.
