Illustration of cyber criminal using computer.
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A huge scam website, used by thousands of criminals to trick people into handing over personal details such as email addresses, passwords and bank details, has been infiltrated by international police.
The British Metropolitan Police said in a statement on Thursday that the website, called LabHost, was used by 2,000 criminals to steal users’ personal information.
So far, police have identified nearly 70,000 British victims who entered their details into one of LabHost’s websites. According to the Metropolitan Police, a total of 37 suspects have been arrested.
Police also disrupted LabHost’s website and replaced the information on its page with a message indicating that law enforcement had seized the services.
The Metropolitan Police said LabHost obtained 480,000 credit card numbers, 64,000 PIN codes and more than 1 million passwords used for websites and other online services.
The Metropolitan Police said police had contacted as many as 25,000 victims in the UK to inform them that their data had been leaked.
Who is the lab host?
Police said LabHost was set up in 2021 by a criminal network that attempted to defraud victims of critical personally identifiable information, such as banking details and passwords, by creating fake websites.
Criminals can use it to exploit victims through existing websites or create new websites that mimic trusted brands such as banks, healthcare providers and postal services.
“Online scammers think they can get away with their crimes,” Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Ms Lynn Owens said in a statement on Thursday.
“They believe they can hide behind digital identities and platforms like LabHost and have absolute confidence that these sites will not be infiltrated by police.”
Owens added that this operation demonstrates “how law enforcement around the world can and will work with each other and private sector partners to dismantle international fraud networks at their source.”
Private companies including blockchain analysis firm Chainaanalysis, Intel 471, Microsoft, Shadowserver Foundation, and Trend Micro worked with police to identify and destroy LabHost.
Police began investigating in June 2022 after receiving intelligence about LabHost activities from the Cyber Defense Alliance, an intelligence-sharing alliance between banks and law enforcement agencies.
The Met’s cybercrime unit then joined forces with the National Crime Agency, the Metropolitan Police, Europol, UK regional authorities and other international police forces to take action.
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