Interpol Arrests Moroccan Hacker Targets Victims Worldwide for Stealing Financial Data

An alleged prolific cybercriminal has been apprehended in Morocco following a joint two-year investigation by INTERPOL, the Moroccan police, and Group-IB.

The alleged perpetrator, a citizen of Morocco, was arrested in May by the Moroccan police based on the data about his cybercrimes that was provided by Group-IB.

The Group-IB’s Threat Intelligence team says, “the suspect, dubbed Dr. HeX is responsible for several cybercrimes, including phishing, defacing, malware development, fraud, and carding that resulted in thousands of unsuspecting victims”.

The Suspect Behind the Numerous Cybercrimes

The cyberattacks involved deploying a phishing kit technique consisting of web pages that spoofed banking entities in the country, followed by sending mass emails mimicking the targeted companies, prompting email recipients to enter login information on the spoofed site.

The report says, approximately each of the scripts contained in the phishing kit had its creator’s nickname, Dr HeX, and contact email address.

Group-IB researchers used patented graph network analysis technology and found a total of five email addresses associated with the accused, along with six nicknames, and his accounts on Skype, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube.

From 2009 to 2018, the threat actor defaced over 130 web pages. Analysts have also discovered evidence suggesting Dr Hex’ involvement in attacks on several huge French corporations to steal customer’s bank card data.

Interpol said in a statement, the suspect is also alleged to have helped develop carding and phishing kits, which were then sold to other individuals through online forums to allow them to facilitate similar malicious campaigns against victims.

Then these were used to impersonate online banking facilities, allowing the suspect and others to steal sensitive information and defraud trusting individuals for financial gain, with the losses of individuals and companies published online to advertise these malicious services.

Locating and Arresting the Hacker

INTERPOL’s Cybercrime Directorate worked closely with Group-IB and with Moroccan Police via the INTERPOL National Central Bureau in Rabat to finally locate and apprehend the individual who remains under investigation.

“This is a significant success against a suspect who is accused of targeting unsuspecting individuals and companies across multiple regions for years, and the case highlights the threat posed by cybercrime worldwide.”, says INTERPOL Executive Director of Police Services Stephen Kavanagh.

“The arrest of this suspect is down to outstanding international investigative work and new ways of collaboration both with Moroccan police and our vital private sector partners such as Group-IB.” Therefore, in this time of increasing cyber threats, members of the public, businesses, and organizations are reminded to protect themselves from phishing attempts.

You can follow us on Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook for daily Cybersecurity and hacking news updates.