Europol
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Europol says it took down First VPN in cybercrime crackdown
European authorities shut down First VPN, a service used by cybercriminals to hide activity, and arrested the alleged administrator in Ukraine, Europol said. Officials also seized servers and domains and identified thousands of users linked to crime.
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Europol-backed operation dismantles online fraud call centres in Albania
Europol-supported investigators have dismantled a Tirana-based online fraud network accused of causing at least EUR 50 million in losses. Ten people were arrested and cash, computers and phones were seized in coordinated raids.
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Global police seize 53 domains in DDoS-for-hire crackdown
Police in 21 countries seized 53 domains and arrested four people in Operation PowerOFF, a crackdown on DDoS-for-hire services used by more than 75,000 cybercriminals and tied to databases with over 3 million accounts.
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Operation Alice shuts down 373,000 fake CSAM dark web sites
Operation Alice, led by Germany, shut down more than 373,000 dark web sites selling fake CSAM packages. About 10,000 buyers paid roughly $400,000 and investigators seized 287 servers, including 105 in Germany.
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Authorities shut down cryptocurrency mixer Cryptomixer, seize nearly $28 million in Bitcoin
European authorities shut down the cryptocurrency mixer Cryptomixer and seized nearly $28 million in Bitcoin, servers and data in an operation Europol said was part of a wider effort to disrupt money laundering tied to ransomware, fraud and other crimes.
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International police action disrupts Rhadamanthys, VenomRAT and Elysium operations
Authorities in nine countries, coordinated by Europol and Eurojust, dismantled infrastructure for Rhadamanthys, VenomRAT and Elysium by taking down 1,025 servers, seizing 20 domains and arresting a suspect in Greece as part of Operation Endgame.
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Europol urges coordinated EU response as caller ID spoofing drives phone and text fraud
Europol says caller ID spoofing is driving much of Europe’s phone and text fraud, estimating EUR 850 million in annual losses and calling for EU-wide technical standards, an international traceback system and aligned legal frameworks to improve cross-border investigations.
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Europol: SIMCARTEL takedown leads to seven arrests, thousands of SIM cards seized
European authorities dismantled a network called SIMCARTEL that used SIM boxes to facilitate phishing and other frauds, seizing thousands of SIM cards, making seven arrests and tracing the operation to millions of created accounts, officials said.
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German authorities seize 1,406 fraudulent crypto trading domains in Operation Heracles
German authorities seized 1,406 fraudulent cryptocurrency trading domains on Oct. 3, 2025 under Operation Heracles, BaFin said, recording about 866,000 access attempts in ten days and warning that professional-looking sites, call centres and possibly AI were used to target German-speaking victims.
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Council of Europe authorises EU to sign UN cybercrime convention
The Council of Europe authorised the European Commission and member states to sign the UN Convention against Cybercrime, a treaty adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2024 that sets common rules for criminalising cyber offences and exchanging electronic evidence, with safeguards to protect human rights.
