Their names are Anton B., Fedor A. or Georgy T. They are suspected of belonging to a foreign criminal organization and of “having contributed to a significant extent” to the implementation of global cyberattacks. On its website, the German Criminal Police Office displays their photos against a background of green numbers, similar to that of the film “The Matrix”.
Anton, Fedor and Georgy are part of a group of eight people wanted by the police as part of Operation Endgame. In the spring, the European police force Europol launched a huge raid with several countries to dismantle “droppers”, malicious software that can infiltrate computer systems and install ransomware, viruses or spyware.
During the operation, more than 100 servers were seized worldwide. The police seized 69 million euros from an administrator and 99 crypto wallets with a total value of 70 million euros, the Frankfurt am Main public prosecutor’s office said at the time.
2.7 billion euros
The scale of the crackdown is a measure of the growing impact of organized crime in Germany. Last year, the damage inflicted by these organizations more than doubled, from 1.3 billion euros to 2.7 billion euros, according to a report presented on Thursday by the Federal Criminal Police Office. Ten years ago, it was estimated at 539 million euros.
“The economic damage caused by organised crime is enormous. The perpetrators operate through international networks. We are dealing with an increasing number of non-German suspects,” said German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.
Bulk SMS messages sent
Most of this increase is attributable to cybercrime. Small groups of individuals can commit fraud in series, after acquiring the appropriate tools on the black market. Last year, for example, a group of six people based in Bavaria managed to extract €1.7 million from nearly 800 victims by recovering their banking data.
Using automated mass text messages, they lured their victims to a website created to imitate a bank. Using software purchased on the darknet, the defendants were able to contact the victims on this site. They retrieved their data and then intervened in their accounts.
Last year, more than 800 companies and institutions reported cases of ransomware. It must be said that encrypted communications significantly complicate the identification of suspects. In 24% of investigations, suspects’ communications are encrypted.
From verbal threats to torture and killings
Last year, German authorities investigated 7,347 suspects, through more than 640 procedures. A figure that is almost stable. In more than two thirds of the cases, the police were confronted with criminals from abroad, whose nationality was not necessarily identified. Among the foreigners who were investigated, people of Turkish origin constitute the largest population, ahead of Serbs, Poles and Albanians.
German authorities also point to the high “threat potential” of organized crime, as many gangs use firearms. Violence ranges from verbal threats to torture and killings, to hostage-taking, rape and bodily harm.
