Germany Makes Arrests In Global Phishing Scam

Monkier writes "PC World reports on a sting by German police resulting in the arrest of ten people suspected of a phishing scam. The group was targeted bank customers with emails from organizations like eBay and Deutsche Telekom. The team attached software to the emails that recorded data entered into the host computers. From the article: '"This case shows that criminal organizations are using the Internet more and more to gain enormous amounts of money with a supposedly low risk of being caught," said Crime Office President Joerg Ziercke in a statement. "The authorities face constant new challenges in the fight against computer crime where perpetrators are developing a higher degree of professionalism and specialization." The office said the suspects had led luxurious lifestyles involving expensive jewelry, cars and travel.'"

Comments

Hah!

[Anonymous Coward]

I've been scamming people for years now, but they're never gonna get me!

-Bill G.

This is Germany

[Billosaur]

It's "pfishing"...

Global crime, national governments

[Anonymous Coward]

Face it, the world ain't divided into little independent fiefdoms anymore. Why do we keep acting like it is a good idea to have little nations all under their own regime?

For a global order, we need a global system of governance. Lucky for us, open source is taking the lead:
http://www.metagovernment.org/

It's still young, but it's better than anything else out there.

Re:Global crime, national governments

[The Living Fractal]

Face it, the world IS STILL divided into little independent fiefdoms. And who is this 'we' that are acting like it's a good idea? Maybe you mean the people that recognize the nature of their power (of many types), and where it comes from? In other words, having a world government would severely hinder the "haves" in keeping themselves separate from the "nots".

I read the Metagovernment website. Pie-in-the-sky ideas. Sounds good on paper but the only thing that would ever make it even remotely possible to implement is massive, worldwide violence on a scale never before seen which somehow only killed the people who wanted to maintain their power.

Seriously, I mean, it sounds good but it's just not gonna go smoothly if it ever happens.

Tax rates and organised crime

[Anonymous Coward]

Just a thought I had a few months ago - the higher the income tax rate, the bigger the incentive is for economic crime. As a stylized example;

In country A you earn 100,000, pay 25,000 in tax that covers your public health system, 25,000 in tax to cover your education system, spend 25,000 on other life essentials, and are left with 25,000 to spend as you like.

In country B you earn 100,000, pay 5,000 in tax that covers your public health system and 20,000 in further insurance, pay 5,000 in tax to cover your education system and 20,000 to cover your study costs (enjoying the benefit of 25,000 in each), spend 25,000 on life essentials and are left with 25,000 to spend as they like.

A criminal in country A who earns 100,000 will pay 0 in health tax but enjoy healthcare equal to 25,000, pay 0 in education tax but enjoy healthcare equal to 25,000 spend 25,000 on life essentials and have 75,000 to spend as they like.

A criminal in country B who earns 100,000 will pay 0 in health tax and 20,000 in private health insurance, pay 0 in education tax and 20,000 in education costs, spend 25,000 on life essentials and have 35,000 to spend as they like.

I would suspect it's for this reason that criminals in Europe (of the petty crime type) in my view appear to enjoy significantly more comfortable lives and more luxury than in the US.

Re:Tax rates and organised crime

[Silver Sloth]

Poor and sick person in Country A receives the health care required without resorting to crime so as to pay for it.

Poor and sick person in Country B has to balance health care against other basic needs and is tempted into crime to pay for it.

So, the higher the tax rate the lower the basic incentive to comit crime.

Ok, so this is a hopelessly simplistic broad brush picture of a very complex situation, but, so was the OP.

Bedfellows

[Stanistani]

This is an example where customers and businesses are on the same side, with governments and law enforcement actually protecting them by catching the bad guys.

I'd like to see more of this.

Of course, with eBay still sending me emails with links, telling me not to trust emails with links...

Re:Bedfellows

[dada21]

This is an example where customers and businesses are on the same side, with governments and law enforcement actually protecting them by catching the bad guys.

Even though I'm an anti-state kind of guy, it is times like this that I can at least applaud government for doing something right, although probably very inefficiently.

I coaxed my retired father to join the web a few years back (e-mail, slingbox, casual web browsing) and I get 5-10 e-mails a week from him forwarding some bank notification that is a phishing attempt. He has bank accounts with every major bank so all the phishing e-mails hit a bank he has. I keep telling him that his bank won't e-mail him about anything important (maybe a bill notification or whatever), but I told him to NEVER EVER click a link or call a number in an e-mail from anyone other than myself and our direct family. I set up bookmarks for him to go direct, and also gave him the phone number to the banks to call in case he's worried.

For me, the best thing we can do is just teach others the right way to browse, read e-mails and reply to things that sound scary. While I do applaud the government here for slamming some fraudsters, I think it is way cheaper, more secure and more protective of our freedoms to provide proper education to each other, rather than rely on government. All they'll use this for is more reasons to encroach on our inherent rights and take away more privacies.

As more people get burned, more people will learn. Fall off your bike a few times and you'll either realize you need more practice, or you shouldn't bike. We don't need the bike-fall police to protect us.

Note to others: train your parents, children, siblings and friends on the problems regarding phishing or any scam e-mails.

I just wish the "victims" were more careful

[Anonymous Coward]

I realize that I'm imposing my North-american-centric, socially-unfriendly view here, but why can't people just be a little LESS trusting. These problems would go away quickly if people would just educate themselves a bit and learn that the Internet is a "wretched hive of scum and villainy" and you just HAVE TO BE CAREFUL.

yeah, yeah... I'm blaming the victim...flame on

Re:I just wish the "victims" were more careful

[hiryuu]

These problems would go away quickly if people would just educate themselves a bit and learn that the Internet is a "wretched hive of scum and villainy" and you just HAVE TO BE CAREFUL.


I don't think you're blaming the victim by stating a fact - and I think it is likely fact that a significant proportion of these crimes occur because the victim either didn't know better or didn't think it over in an adequately critical fashion.

In an offline example, I got beaten and mugged earlier this summer while walking home. I had my iPod going, was in my own little world, and wasn't paying close enough (nor paranoid enough) attention around me. In the back of my mind, I registered the presence of the assailants, but wasn't cautious enough. Was it my fault? Not by any means - the fault lies with the two bastards who jumped me and took my stuff. Would it have been avoided if I'd been more situationally aware and paranoid? Hell yeah.

The trusted client problem

[UninvitedCompany]

The core problem is that the client system was compromised and as a result all the SSL in the world won't help. Clueless users will always be with us. It will always be the case that if you send out enough emails with plausible links, someone will click on them.

Banks should make greater use of authentication tokens like those provided by SecurID, because they offer a secure platform that is much more difficult to compromise with fishing attacks.