Europol Breaks Up Russian-Led Internet Fraud Gang

Feb. 15, 2013

MADRID — A network of online fraudsters who masqueraded as European crime-fighting agency Europol and collected millions of euros in fake fines was broken up — by Europol.

The group, which was led by a 27-year-old Russian citizen and worked across 30 countries over the past two years, paralyzed computers with a virus and left messages purporting to be from organizations like Europol and the police. They said users could regain access to their machines only if they paid a fine.

"It's impossible to know for sure how many citizens were affected by this, but we estimate hundreds of thousands of Europeans were," Europol director Rob Wainwright said at a news conference in Madrid on Wednesday.

(Reuters)

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