An Israeli hacker was arrested in Europe on suspicion of running a huge fraud empire

As part of the investigation, six suspects were arrested. At the center of the affair is a 46-year-old Polish Israeli citizen, who was arrested at the end of May at an airport in Poland after arriving from Dubai, and extradited to the Netherlands. A local court ordered his detention for 14 days in order to continue the investigation. The police said that this was a person who had previously been prosecuted for breaking into the computer systems of foreign government bodies, but did not release his name.

According to the Dutch newspapers “De Telegraaf” and “NL Times”, this is Ehud “Odi” Tenenbaum, known by the nickname “The Analyzer”. Tanenbaum became famous as early as 1998 after he was linked to the hacking of the computer systems of the Pentagon, NASA and other elements of the US military, an event that at the time raised fears of a state-sponsored cyber attack. He was later arrested in Canada and extradited to the USA as part of a financial fraud case, pleaded guilty in 2009 and was sentenced to the sentence he had already served and compensation. However, the Dutch authorities did not confirm that he is indeed the suspect in the current case.

This is how the method worked

According to the findings of the investigation, the members of the network contacted potential investors for weeks and sometimes months, built relationships of trust with them and directed them to trading platforms that seemed reliable and professional. The first deposits were small, and the systems allegedly presented quick profits, but in practice the funds were not invested at all. After the victims increased the investment amounts, the money was transferred to the fraud operators, sometimes using cryptocurrencies.

So far, the police have linked about 550 complaints from the Netherlands and about 200 complaints from Belgium to the network’s activities. In the Netherlands alone, the damage was estimated at about 25 million euros, with most of the victims losing more than 10,000 euros each. The researchers estimate that around the world tens of thousands of people have fallen victim to the sting.

The police also warned of another stage in the scam: after the victims realize that their money has been lost, some of them receive requests from companies that supposedly return the money for an additional payment in advance. In many cases, according to the researchers, the same “recovery companies” are operated by the same group of criminals.

The financial investigation is still ongoing, and the authorities said that more arrests are expected along with attempts to locate and freeze assets related to the network.

*** Presumption of innocence: The suspects in the case were neither accused nor convicted, and they have the presumption of innocence.