Underage hackers who threatened bomb blasts and murders arrested in Hungarian-Romanian operation – video

Hungarian and Romanian police have arrested four underage hackers in a coordinated operation targeting a wave of scam and threatening phone calls, the investigative office of the rapid-response police (KR NNI) said on police.hu on Monday.

Underage hackers arrested

The investigation began in mid-July last year after multiple reports of serious crimes, including fake bomb threats against schools, churches and residential buildings, as well as false claims of murders and attacks on police units, KR NNI said.

The crimes involved swatting, or fake emergency calls to provoke armed police responses, as well as doxing, they said according to the Hungarian News Agency.

Investigators found that the suspects, now identified, had contacted their victims via Discord. After arguments between users escalated, the hackers obtained personal details and phone numbers of their targets, which they then used to make false reports to police.

The oldest of the group is only 20

The investigation was led by KR NNI’s cybercrime unit and supported by counter-terrorism force TEK and the Nagykanizsa police department. When evidence suggested a Romanian national was involved, Romanian police joined the operation.