An Illegal darknet counterfeit euro banknotes platform busted by law enforcement agencies and arrested 235 suspects who bought illegal counterfeit money from Darkweb market.
Cybercriminals are using Darkweb as a permanent hub to perform various criminal activities including drug dealing, selling stolen data, Malware, ransomware, passports, etc.
This operation was conducted almost 13 different countries and officials seized 1 500 counterfeit euro banknotes. Drugs, weapons (firearms, nunchaku, illegal knives, and blades).
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Along with this, they seized computers, mobile phones, Bitcoins and hardware for mining virtual currencies.
Europol was lead this operation and the investigation started on 19 November and 3 to 6 December when an investigation went into deep that leads to arrest many of the frauds.
Counterfeit euro Currencies print in Leoben, central Austria and it was identified dismantled the printshop e in June in 2018 with the help of Europol.
The arrested suspect was frequently printing the Counterfeit Money of 10, 20 and 50 euro banknotes and sold them on several illegal Darknet marketplaces.
Police officials searching over 300 in 13 different countries and finally, 235 suspects were detained.
EU-wide action against buyers of counterfeit money 💶on the Darknet in 13 different countries coordinated by Europol:
▪300 house searches
▪235 suspects detained
▪1500 counterfeit euro banknotes seized.
Find out more: https://t.co/F4mV0MgCcy pic.twitter.com/qooLd2YKiv— Europol (@Europol) December 7, 2018
Also the 10000 Counterfeit Money were shipped to many buyers around Europe who order the notes from darknet marketplace.
According to Europol, the Austrian police found evidence of his transactions and communicated this data to Europol. This information was analysed, enhanced and forwarded to all the affected countries. During an operational meeting at Europol’s headquarters, the Member States decided to organize a coordinated action to achieve the best results possible.
Apart from this Germany performed around 180 house searches, 28 were performed in France, 20 in Italy, 20 in Austria and actions also took place in Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, Officials said.
Also Officials warned that, This joint effort highlights that complete anonymity on the internet and the Darknet doesn’t exist. When you engage in illegal activity online, be prepared to have police knocking on your door sooner or later.
