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From: TT
Published:
Photo: Øijord, Thomas Winje
In a major effort against network and phone scammers around the world, authorities on all continents have made 21,549 arrests.
90 accounts were frozen in Sweden after a major effort against phone and network scammers around the world. Thousands of suspects have been arrested.
– Here we managed to catch up on the money and lock in SEK 20 million, says Björn Seth, Sweden’s contact person in Interpol’s First Light operation.
During the more than a year-long campaign against network and phone scammers around the world, authorities on all continents have made 21,549 arrests, according to an Interpol statement. During the operation, in English called First Light (Dawn), 1.3 billion Swedish crowns were seized.
– Sweden is one of 35 countries that have participated in the operation coordinated by Interpol, says Björn Seth, a crime inspector at the national police fraud center.
Largest operation
He has acted as a contact person in Sweden and is very positive about the Interpol initiative.
– It is the first time that an operation has been carried out at this level. It offers opportunities for the future, he says.
The effort led to 90 accounts being frozen in Sweden, which means that 90 account holders are now suspected of receiving money.
– There are suspects who will be gradually arrested. SEK 20 million have been blocked on these accounts. These are scams that happen all over the world all the time, says Björn Seth.
Different designs
He says the scams are often based on call centers in Asia and can, for example, involve a company in Korea being tricked into paying money into a Swedish account.
– It is one of many approaches. Scammers work quite widely. It can also be a phone fraud. It could be someone posing as a police officer, for example, calling and saying that you’ve been the victim of fraud and now need access to your account information, says Björn Seth.
Other scams occur through email, where scammers, for example, send invoices to a company of one of their clients, where the account number is changed so that the money ends up in the pockets of the scammers.
Björn Seth is happy that Sweden was able to participate in the operation, which took place mainly during September, October and November.
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