Cameroonian online fraud crime group dismantled

On Tuesday, prosecutors with Romania's Department for Investigation of Organised Crime and Terror (DIICOT) carried out 32 searches in Bucharest City and the counties of Ilfov, Cluj, Dolj and Brasov for the dismantling of a group of Cameroonian nationals who were dealing with fraud on the Internet, through which they allegedly obtained 1,000,000 US dollars to the detriment of about 30 companies abroad.

The DIICOT prosecutors and judicial police officers from BCCO Bucharest - Cybercrime Service say that members of this group specialises in computer fraud, illegal access to a computer system, computer forgery, false identity, false statements, improper participation in the use of forgery, improper participation in misrepresentations, deception, aiding and abetting, and money laundering.

"At the same time, under international co-operation, a house search was carried out in Ireland and the Netherlands," according to a DIICOT press statement released on Tuesday.

It was noted that, from 2017, in Bucharest, several Cameroonian nationals had set up and worked in a transnational organised criminal group, specialising in committing crimes online.

According to investigators, the suspects created fake websites/email addresses that appeared to belong to commercial companies specialising in the wholesale sale of food or non-food products, and, in order to mislead potential customers, they sent by email offers for the sale of products, drawn up on behalf of the real companies mentioned, requesting advance payment for the delivery of goods.

Twenty-six people will be taken to the DIICOT headquarters for hearings.

International judicial co-operation has been carried out in the case with support from Eurojust.