Lord777
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Spanish police say they have arrested 55 members of the Black Panthers group, including one of its leaders. Law enforcement officials say that the hack group specialized in spoofing SIM cards and carding, resorting to social engineering, vishing (voice phishing)and phishing.
According to the investigators, Black Panthers had a clear structure, where each cell was responsible for a specific type of scam: the already mentioned social engineering, vishing, phishing and carding. The arrested leader of the group coordinated the work of these "units", recruited new members and money mules.
To steal other people's SIM cards, the scammers used a combination of phishing, vishing and call forwarding, posing as victims in conversations with mobile operator support specialists. At the same time, in some cases, fraudsters pretended to be technical specialists and attacked telecommunications companies themselves, trying to steal the credentials of their employees. The police explain that this gave hackers access to the database of telephone operators and allowed them to obtain personal data of victims, independently making duplicate SIM cards.
After gaining access to the bank accounts of their targets, the scammers made several transfers to their money mules, which were based on the Levantine coast. Investigators estimate that at least 100 victims suffered at the hands of the Black Panthers, and the scammers successfully stole about 250,000 euros.
It is also reported that the group was very active on the Darknet, where the Black Panther carder cell bought up stolen identity cards and bank card data for cryptocurrency. Hackers used this data to buy various luxury items in online stores, and then resold them as second-hand to unsuspecting buyers, effectively laundering money.
During the police raids, 45 SIM cards, 11 mobile phones, four laptops, a hardware cryptocurrency wallet and a large amount of documentation related to criminal activity were found and seized in seven homes of the suspects.
According to the investigators, Black Panthers had a clear structure, where each cell was responsible for a specific type of scam: the already mentioned social engineering, vishing, phishing and carding. The arrested leader of the group coordinated the work of these "units", recruited new members and money mules.
The main profile of Black Panthers was to conduct attacks with spoofing SIM cards, that is, transferring the phone numbers of victims to the devices of the attackers themselves. By transferring someone else's phone number to them, the attackers gained access to the victim's text messages and could use this to bypass two-factor authentication of bank accounts (and then empty them).
To steal other people's SIM cards, the scammers used a combination of phishing, vishing and call forwarding, posing as victims in conversations with mobile operator support specialists. At the same time, in some cases, fraudsters pretended to be technical specialists and attacked telecommunications companies themselves, trying to steal the credentials of their employees. The police explain that this gave hackers access to the database of telephone operators and allowed them to obtain personal data of victims, independently making duplicate SIM cards.
After gaining access to the bank accounts of their targets, the scammers made several transfers to their money mules, which were based on the Levantine coast. Investigators estimate that at least 100 victims suffered at the hands of the Black Panthers, and the scammers successfully stole about 250,000 euros.
It is also reported that the group was very active on the Darknet, where the Black Panther carder cell bought up stolen identity cards and bank card data for cryptocurrency. Hackers used this data to buy various luxury items in online stores, and then resold them as second-hand to unsuspecting buyers, effectively laundering money.
During the police raids, 45 SIM cards, 11 mobile phones, four laptops, a hardware cryptocurrency wallet and a large amount of documentation related to criminal activity were found and seized in seven homes of the suspects.
