Overview
- Mid‑July operations led by national police with Europol and Interpol support produced multiple arrests across Spain, Portugal and Panama and large digital seizures that investigators say damaged the networks’ core infrastructure.
- Spanish authorities say they dismantled a money‑laundering organisation tied to about €140 million in fraud, traced more than 800 bank accounts and 120 business accounts, and confirmed €94 million flowed through the network with another €61 million linked to 2024 CEO/fake‑invoice schemes.
- Officers seized roughly 15 computers and over 170 smartphones and froze about €3 million intended for victim restitution, while the probe continues to trace additional accounts and accomplices.
- Separate but related probes in the Netherlands and Cyprus have produced arrests and device seizures; Dutch police arrested a 46‑year‑old Israeli‑Polish suspect who was extradited from Poland and Cyprus police detained three suspects in a crypto call‑centre targeting Benelux investors.
- Investigators say the groups used professional call‑centre scripts, fake celebrity ads, remote‑access tools and social engineering to push victims into fake trading accounts and to recruit money mules, a pattern that has prompted a shift in law enforcement toward dismantling operational hubs rather than only taking down fraudulent websites.