Europol together with the Belgian Police (Police Fédérale/Federale Politie) and the Dutch Police (Politie) has dismantled an organized crime group involved in phishing, fraud, scams and money laundering responsible for millions of euros in losses.

The fraudsters approached victims via email, text message or mobile messaging apps and sent them phishing links leading to a fake banking website, where users were tricked into providing their banking credentials to the scammers.

Using this scheme the gang managed to steal several million euros from their victims, Europol said. The suspects used money mules to cash out money stolen from the victims’ accounts. Members of the group have also been connected with cases of drugs trafficking and possible firearms trafficking.

The police apprehended 9 alleged members of the gang and conducted 24 house searches in the Netherlands. During the raids the police officers also seized firearms, ammunition, jewellery, electronic devices, cash and cryptocurrency.

Earlier this month, Interpol announced the arrest of the seizure of $50 million in illicit funds, and arrest of 2,000 alleged fraudsters as part of a large-scale police investigation into social engineering fraud.