Operation Swift: Crime Syndicate Busted in South Africa

Via iol.za (South Africa) -

A hi-tech Internet crime syndicate responsible for the theft of hundreds of millions of rands - from government departments, parastatals and financial institutions to computer spy programmes - has been bust.

The syndicate, which has operatives within banks and government departments, is alleged to be behind the theft of more than R400-million from bank accounts of the departments of home affairs and public works and the licensing department, several parastatals, and financial institutions and staff working in the various organisations over the past two years.

The gang of 13, who all operate from Pretoria, was bust last week during an operation conducted by the SA Police Service's Covert Intelligence Collective Directorate and the Commercial Crime Unit.

The week-long operation, dubbed Operation Swift, saw police detectives and undercover agents raiding houses throughout suburbs north of Pretoria.

The arrests bring an end to what has been described by well-placed police sources as the biggest cyber-crime attack on government organisations in the country.

The theft allegedly took place through fraudulent electronic fund transfers (EFTs) from the various institutions and its staff members' accounts since 2006, and saw the syndicate, comprising small business owners and IT specialists employed in both the government and private sector, siphoning off money to fictitious bank accounts.

Police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Tummi Golding said the syndicate had stolen more than R400-million in the past two years.

Explaining how the gang worked, she said the syndicate, which had unscrupulous government employees on its payroll, operated by infiltrating targeted departments and institutions, and installing spyware on IT systems.

"The spyware is used to collect the user name and passwords of users of the government salary systems. Once this information is compromised, it is used to effect fraudulent EFTs into bank accounts opened by runners using fraudulent documents."

Commenting on the arrests, Golding said police had raided the suspected ringleader's home in Mabopane last week.