Recent days have seen a series of coordinated actions by law enforcement in Poland and Europe against organized crime. Police have dismantled international groups involved in money laundering and 'phishing' scams. Simultaneously, banks and state institutions are issuing urgent warnings about new fraud methods that increasingly exploit popular communication apps and social engineering techniques targeting seniors and business owners.

Major Money Laundering Ring Busted

Authorities dismantled a system of fake call centers that laundered approximately 20 million złoty originating from cybercrimes.

Banks Warn Against Phishing

Bank Pekao and Revolut are issuing alerts about fake emails and attachments used to steal login credentials.

Attacks on Seniors in Their Homes

Groups impersonating plumbers and firefighters, who robbed apartments under the pretext of false inspections, have been detained.

Polish police and foreign security services have reported a sharp increase in the activity of organized crime groups in recent days. The most significant success for investigators is the dismantling of an international group operating from, among other places, Wrocław, which was involved in fraud and money laundering. According to investigators, the criminals managed to introduce nearly 20 million złoty into the financial system through fake call centers. Thirteen people have been detained in this case and charged with participation in an organized criminal group and violating anti-money laundering regulations. In the banking sector, alerts from Bank Pekao S.A. and the Revolut platform are drawing particular attention. Criminals are mass-emailing messages with infected attachments aimed at stealing online banking login credentials. New variants of 'BLIK' scams and fraud related to Netflix and Telegram platforms have also emerged. Data from European countries, including Italy and Spain, indicates an alarming, over two-hundred percent increase in the number of scams carried out via internet messengers over the past year. Authorities emphasize that criminals are increasingly impersonating couriers, tax officials, or relatives in need. The concept of phishing, a method of fraudulently obtaining sensitive data by impersonating trusted institutions, originated in the mid-1990s on the AOL service, but the scale of current attacks using artificial intelligence is unprecedented.Parallel to the fight in cyberspace, police are intervening in thefts carried out using traditional methods. In Masovia and Podlachia, groups impersonating waterworks employees and chimney sweeps, who robbed elderly people's apartments under the pretext of inspections, have been dismantled. Strikes against the so-called 'waste mafia' are also continuing, with further members of groups involved in the illegal storage of hazardous waste hearing charges. Among those detained were former local government officials, indicating a corrupt dimension to the activity. „Cybercriminals exploit naivety and haste, but their primary tool is the fear of losing savings.” — Police StatementCybersecurity specialists urge particular caution when receiving calls from alleged bank employees (so-called vishing). It is crucial to verify every request for a funds transfer and to avoid installing remote desktop software. Statistics show that individual victims lose anywhere from several thousand to even over 200,000 złoty this way, ending up in criminals' foreign accounts.

Mentioned People

  • Brak personaliów — The articles did not name specific leaders of the criminal groups by name, only mentioning a former mayor.