Cross-border e-Commerce Police action leads to 95 arrests

Police forces across Europe have arrested 95 professional fraudsters and members of internet-based criminal networks in a successful cross-border e-Commerce Action (eComm 2018).

The joint law enforcement operation, coordinated by the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) from Europol’s headquarters in The Hague, was supported by 28 countries and ran from 4 to 15 June 2018. It received the direct assistance from merchants, logistic companies, and banks and payment card schemes. Europol also supported national authorities on-the-spot by providing analytical services in their investigations.

The main goal was to target online fraud through a coordinated law enforcement action within the European Union (EU) and beyond, followed by an awareness-raising campaign. This action also marks the start of several investigations with more arrests expected in the next few months. The activity was inspired by a similar UK pilot conducted in collaboration with Visa.

The suspects arrested during the operation were responsible for more than 20 000 fraudulent transactions with compromised credit cards, with an estimated value exceeding EUR 8 million.

The e-commerce action focused on combating card-not-present (CNP) fraud, to help create a safer online environment for customers worldwide by sharing information and developing best practices between law enforcement and the private sector. It promotes the hashtag  #BuySafePaySafe: tips to avoid becoming a fraud victim.

For more information visit Europol’s website.

Rui Carvalho, Chair of the EAST Payments Task Force (EPTF), represents EAST at Europol’s e-Commerce actions.