28 mrt 2024 om 09:31 Update: 1 uur geleden
After the arrest of six suspects of bank help desk fraud at the beginning of this year, the police found lists with 7.3 million unique email addresses, including around 5 million from Dutch people. The data is used by criminals to defraud people.
Millions of email addresses are used by cybercriminals to send phishing emails. These are emails in which the sender pretends to be something or someone else, such as a bank or an employee of an online store. Sometimes the emails can hardly be distinguished from the real thing.
Phishing messages trick people into entering personal information, which then ends up in the hands of criminals. They can then use that information to defraud people and extort money.
The police found the lists after the suspects of bank help desk fraud were arrested. In bank help desk fraud, criminals pose as employees of the bank where the victim has an account. The scammer then tries to gain the trust of the victim to transfer money.
Check for yourself whether you are a victim
The lists of email addresses did not suddenly disappear after the arrests. According to the police, these types of lists are sold on to other cyber criminals and abused to defraud people.
People can find out for themselves whether their email address is on the list. This can be done via a police web page. If someone leaves an email address on the list, the police will send an email with tips and information. People who did not receive mail were not victims of the network.
Tags: Police find million Dutch email addresses among online scammers Tech
