Electronic commerce: The 3 cases of fraud – Europol and EL.AS cooperation in the international operation “eComm”: 59 arrests

The Greek Police participated, through the Electronic Crime Prosecution Directorate, in global police operationfor combating fraud in the field of electronic commerce (e-commerce)which was implemented at the initiative of Europol between 1 and 31 October 2022.

The operation involved police authorities, banking institutions and online merchants from 19 countries (Albania, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Colombia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom), with the main objective of the action (eComm 2022) to crack down on criminal networks that use stolen credit card details for online purchases.

From investigations carried out at drop-off points for products purchased using stolen credit card details, a total of 59 people were arrested.

In our country, 4 cases of fraud were investigated, relating to e-commercewith the total amount of money reported amounting to 100,961 euros. For these cases, to date, they have been identified 5 people involved, against whom a regular procedure file was filed, while the pre-investigative material gathered will be submitted to the competent prosecuting authority.

According to the results of the action (eComm 2022), the following cases of e-commerce fraud were identified:

• Phishing, vishing and smishing scams, where the perpetrators contact people via phone, text messages (sms) and email messages (email) and convince them to disclose their credit card information. To achieve their goal, they promise a reward or impersonate a reputable business or government agency.
• Account takeover fraud, in which an attacker gains access to a user’s account at an e-commerce store. This can be achieved through a variety of methods, such as purchasing stolen passwords, security codes or personal information on the dark web or following a successful phishing attack. Once they gain access to a user’s account, they can engage in further illegal activity. For example, they can change a user’s account information, make purchases at e-commerce stores, withdraw money, and even gain access to their other accounts.
• Fraud with fake websites (fake or replica websites), where the perpetrators create a fake website and lure buyers with cheap products. In many cases fake websites are displayed in advertisements or sent to a user’s email, directing them to the website in a phishing attempt. The products for sale do not actually exist and are never shipped.

It is noted that, on the initiative of Europol, an information campaign is being carried out, under the auspices of the eComm 2022 action, in which our country also takes part.

More information, about the business, has been posted on EUROPOL website

It is reminded that citizens can contact, anonymously or by name, the Electronic Crime Prosecution Directorate, in order to provide information or to report illegal or fraudulent acts or activities carried out over the Internet, at the following contact details:

Telephone: 11188
By sending an e-mail to: [email protected]
Via twitter: @CyberAlertGR
Through gov.gr in the section Citizen and Daily life/ Complaints / Complaints about cybercrimes
Through the application for smart phones: CYBER KID

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