A international task force of law enforcement agencies with the assistance of Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre and the Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce, executed arrest warrants against key members of DD4BC, one of the most notorious DDoS Bitcoin extortion gangs in the world.

Operation Pleiades, which was executed on December 15 and 16, resulted in several properties being searched in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the arrest of two suspects.

“Multiple property searches were carried out and an extensive amount of evidence was seized.”

DD4BC has attempted to extorted countless digital currency mining pools and exchanges over the last two years. According to statements released by Europol, the group not only attacked Bitcoin-related services, but also began to target financial and entertainment companies.

Authorities believe that there are many more attacks that have gone unreported:

“This type of extortion attack has become a well-established criminal enterprise and has affected thousands of victims globally, with the number of unreported incidents believed to be much higher.”

Operational activity was initiated by Austrian authorities with the assistance of officials from the the FBI, Germany’s Bundeskriminalamt, UK’s Metropolitan Police Cyber Crime Unit and the US Secret Service.

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Source: https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsletter/international-action-against-dd4bc-cybercriminal-group

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