The operation was carried out under the coordination of Europol and Eurojust with the participation of the Cybercrime Prosecution Directorate and police and judicial authorities from -10- countries
As part of the operation, a 38-year-old foreigner was arrested in our country as the main suspect for the creation and sale of malicious software program type RAT (Remote Access Trojan)
They were found in his house debit bank cards, -15.205- euros, -8.134,56- euros in cryptocurrencies, "digital wallet", -7- hard drives, mobile phones, USBs, etc.
A total of -11- investigations were carried out in Germany, France and Greece, access to -1025- was interrupted servers and -20- websites were seized (domains)
The Cybercrime Prosecution Directorate of the Hellenic Police Headquarters participated in the international operation codenamed "Operation Endgame", which resulted in the arrest in our country of a key suspect for the creation and sale of RAT (Remote Access Trojan) malware.
The operation was coordinated by Europol and Eurojust, and also involved police and judicial authorities from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States, with the support of over 30 national and international public and private entities.
The aim was to shut down infrastructure responsible for infecting thousands of computers with malware.
In this context, the Cybercrime Prosecution Directorate, after appropriate utilization of information in collaboration with foreign authorities, proceeded to collect data on this criminal activity from an internet user in Greece.
Specifically, the above-mentioned person was alleged to be the creator and seller of a program designed to steal information, through keystroke logging, remote webcam use, text file infiltration and cryptocurrency wallet hacking. In fact, the sale of the malware was made depending on the desired duration of use and the services provided, from 150 euros/month to 1550 euros/12 months.
The information collected was brought to the attention of the competent prosecution authority, which ordered the conduct of a preliminary examination.
From the further thorough investigation by the police officers of the Cybercrime Prosecution Directorate and the utilization of information received from foreign and domestic companies, a 38-year-old foreigner was identified and his place of residence in an area of Attica was determined.
Subsequently, within the framework of a prosecutor's order, following a request for a European Investigation Order from the French authorities and in cooperation with Europol and Eurojust, a search was carried out on 3/11/2025 at the defendant's home, in the presence of a judicial officer, with the participation of representatives of the FBI as observers, of the Paris Judicial Police Department as witnesses in the investigation, as well as police officers from the Criminal Investigation Department.
From the investigation, the following were found and seized:
- -11- debit bank cards of foreign and Greek banking institutions, of which one -1- is a ledger card (mastercard) to which money is transferred from cryptocurrency wallets,
- the amount of -205- euros and the amount of -8.134,56- euros in cryptocurrencies,
- digital wallet recovery word engraving metal plate packaging,
- -7- hard disks,
- -5- mobile phones,
- -3- external USB storage drives and
- hardware wallet, with a total amount of cryptocurrencies corresponding to -140.424,78- dollars.
Furthermore, during the on-site search of the defendant's computer, different versions of malicious software source code were found, while management of a website promoting the RAT malware was revealed, as well as electronic email accounts, cryptocurrency accounts and other data linking him to the said illegal activity.
The operation of the website in question, which was managed by the defendant, was interrupted.
A case was filed against him for prohibiting the movement of software, monitoring devices and other data, violating the confidentiality of telephone and oral conversations, illegal access to computer systems by profession and on a regular basis, as well as for violating the legislation on the prevention and suppression of money laundering.
The arrested person was taken to the competent prosecutor's office and referred to an investigator, from where he was temporarily detained and taken to a detention center.
At the same time, a European Arrest Warrant was issued by the French Authorities, based on which an Arrest and Temporary Detention Order was issued by the competent Court of Appeal.
It is noted that, during the International Operation "Operation Endgame", -10- more investigations were carried out, of which -9- in the Netherlands and -1- in Germany, access to 1.025 servers internationally was interrupted and -20- websites (domains) were seized.
Citizens can check if their computer is infected and access information on what actions they should take, at politie.nl/checkyourhack and haveibeenpwend.comAdditionally, relevant information about this criminal activity is available on the Endgame operation website at www.operation-endgame.com
More information about the International Operation "Operation Endgame" can be found in the relevant Europol Press Release:
photo by kalhh, https://pixabay.com
