A voice impersonation website has been shut down after an international criminal investigation that led to 142 arrests.
iSpoof arrests: Here’s everything we know
The site iSpoof allowed people to pay to imitate people or businesses before a team effort between law enforcement agencies across Europe, the United States, Ukraine, and Canada closed the operation and took more than 100 people being taken into police custody, including the administrator of the site.
According to the police’s findings, the site – which was created in December 2020 – took in more than three million euros in 16 months and more than 100 million euros had been lost internationally due to their work, which was sending faked calls, messages and one-time passwords from businesses such as banks, retailers and government agencies.
At its height, it recorded 59 000 users paying between £150 to £5,000 – with the option of paying for Bitcoin – to utilise the service.
Sir Mark Rowle, the Police Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police – who made more than 100 of the arrests – in London said: “The exploitation of technology by organised criminals is one of the greatest challenges for law enforcement in the 21st century. By taking away the tools and systems that have enabled fraudsters to cheat innocent people at scale, this operation shows how we are determined to target corrupt individuals intent on exploiting often vulnerable people.”
Catherine DeBolle, the executive director of Europol said: “The arrests today send a message to cybercriminals that they can no longer hide behind perceived international anonymity. Europol coordinated the law enforcement community, enriched the information picture and brought criminal intelligence into ongoing operations to target the criminals wherever they are located. Together with our international partners, we will continue to relentlessly push the envelope to bring criminals to justice.”