Ukrainian cyber criminal arrested in connection to €800,000 scam in Hungary!

A criminal gang has caused hundreds of millions of forints of damage in Hungary using sophisticated phishing methods. So far, two main suspects, a Ukrainian and a Hungarian, have been arrested in the case, and 23 people who helped the criminals by opening bank accounts and laundering money have been questioned.

Scammers have mastered the use of technology to obtain victims’ online banking credentials. Their methods included sending fake bank notifications and emails to deceive victims. These were used to trick them into downloading programs such as AnyDesk, which allowed remote access to their devices. Once they had access to the data, they carried out unauthorised transactions.

The money was then moved through a complex money laundering scheme. Transactions were routed in several steps, often to different destination accounts and cryptocurrencies, in order to cover their tracks. This method not only harmed the victims, but also contributed to international financial crime.

According to Portfolio, investigations have revealed that the criminal organisation has so far defrauded more than 30 victims of a total of HUF 330 million (EUR 806,353). In the largest known case, the criminals transferred HUF 70 million (EUR 171,149) from a single bank account to various accounts and then made the money disappear.

The cyber criminal gang

The central figure in the network was a 24-year-old Ukrainian who ran the organisation from Montenegro. He coordinated the fraud committed in Hungary and the distribution of the embezzled funds. He was arrested in Austria and extradited to Hungary through international police cooperation. He is currently in custody and the court has ordered his arrest.