Almost three dozen people have been arrested as part of multi-national law enforcement operation targeting the international cybercriminal group Black Axe.
With support from Europol, the Spanish National Police, working alongside the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office, arrested suspects across Spain: 28 in Seville, three in Madrid, two in Málaga and one in Barcelona.
A statement by Europol said co-ordinated action has resulted in “significant disruptions” to Black Axe’s operations and that €119,352 ($138,971) in bank accounts has been frozen, while €66,403 ($77, 318) in cash was seized during house searches – as seen in images released by the authorities.
Black Axe is a notorious criminal gang known for engaging in a range of illegal activities, including cyber-crime.
Those schemes include business email compromise (BEC) attacks, romance scams, phishing campaigns and other forms of online fraud including extortion.
It’s believed that Black Axe’s range of criminal activities around the globe earn the group billions a year. Europol said the group in Spain is responsible for fraud which has caused almost €6m ($6.9m) in damage.
Black Axe originated in West Africa and while it has grown to become a global operation, it still has strong links to the region: ten of those arrested in the law enforcement operation are Nigerian nationals and the group maintains a strong presence in the country.
The combined Spanish and German operation acted against what’s described as a core group of Black Axe, which targeted areas with high unemployment to recruit money mules for money laundering activities.
Europol aided the operation by providing information analysis, sharing intelligence, supporting national police investigations and providing on-site support in Spain.
“This strategy aims to disrupt the group’s operations and seize assets, addressing the challenges posed by the group's dispersed small cases, cross-border activity, and the blurring of crimes into ‘ordinary’ local offences,” said Europol.