An international police operation dismantled a online spoofing service that allowed criminals to impersonate reputable companies to steal more than $120 million from their victims.
The iSpoof, which currently displays a message saying it has been seized by the FBI, offered "spoofing" services that allowed malicious users who pay to change their phone numbers to someone belonging to a trusted organization, such as banks and the IRS . Then he could launch attacks social engineering very easily.
"The website's services allowed those who signed up to make anonymous fake calls, send recorded messages and use one-time passwords," Europol said in a statement. "Users could impersonate an unlimited number of organizations for financial gain and significant losses from their victims."
London's Metropolitan Police, which began investigating iSpoof in June 2021 alongside international law enforcement agencies from the US, the Netherlands and Ukraine, said it had arrested the site's administrator, Teejai Fletcher, 34 years old, and is accused of fraud and offenses related to organized crime.
Fletcher was remanded in custody and will appear at Southwark Crown Court in London on December 6.
iSpoof had around 59.000 users, and caused losses of $58,2 million to 200.000 identified victims in the UK alone, according to the Met Police. One victim alone lost $3,64 million, while the average amount stolen was $12.100.
