Security News > 2022 > February > Spain dismantles SIM swapping group who emptied bank accounts
Spanish National Police has arrested eight suspects allegedly part of a crime ring who drained bank accounts in a series of SIM swapping attacks.
The first case of fraud attributed to this particular SIM swapping gang is from March 2021, when the police received two complaints about fraudulent transfers not performed by the account holders.
The crackdown operation resulted in the arrest of seven people in Barcelona, one in Seville, and the blocking of an equal number of bank accounts.
Obtenían información de sus víctimas mediante mensajes maliciosos y engañaban a empleados de tiendas de telefonía para duplicar las tarjetas SIM y así vaciar sus cuentas bancarias#SomosTuPolicía pic.
SIM swapping is an attack that involves the porting of someone's phone number to a new SIM card, used by threat actors to obtain access to accounts protected with SMS-based two-factor authentication.
Just yesterday, the FBI issued a warning about criminals escalating SIM swap attacks, as shown by over 1,600 SIM swapping complaints the law enforcement agency received last year.