Polish police dismantle cybercrime gang accused of impersonation scams, arrest nine suspects

Polish police dismantled an international cybercrime group accused of defrauding dozens of victims out of nearly $665,000, authorities said Tuesday.

Nine people were detained in connection with the case. Investigators said the suspects, who ranged in age from 19 to 51 years old, posed as bank employees and law enforcement officers to trick victims into transferring funds to fraudulent accounts. In total, at least 55 people were targeted.

According to police, the group used spoofing software to impersonate phone numbers belonging to banks, prosecutors' offices and police departments. The stolen funds were later converted into cryptocurrencies.

The alleged scheme began in April 2023, and the police said the group operated across several countries. Most of the suspects are Ukrainian nationals, while others come from Georgia, Moldova and Azerbaijan. Polish authorities previously charged 46 other individuals in connection with the operation.

A court has ordered pre-trial detention for some of the suspects, and three Ukrainian nationals have been banned from entering Poland and some other European countries. The detainees face charges including participation in an organized criminal group, money laundering, and illegally accessing online banking data — offenses that carry penalties of up to 15 years in prison.

Authorities said the investigation is ongoing and may lead to further arrests.

In a separate case, Dutch authorities sentenced a 24-year-old man to 18 months in prison earlier this week for planning phishing attacks and installing hacking tools on his computers.

In France, a Belarusian national was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday for conducting ransomware attacks on French companies. He was arrested in Georgia in 2022 and extradited to France last year.