The police have arrested three Dutch people suspected of stealing personal data from hundreds of millions of people. It concerns a 21-year-old man from Zandvoort, a 21-year-old man from Rotterdam and an 18-year-old man without a fixed place of residence.
The trio has the data according to the Police stolen by hacking computer systems of thousands of companies around the world. The stolen personal data then ended up in the hands of other criminals. The police suspect that there is something from every Dutch person, a spokesperson confirms to NU.nl after reporting RTL News.
The police started an investigation in March 2021. This happened “in response to a report of data theft and threats at a large Dutch company”. It later turned out that probably thousands of companies and institutions have fallen victim to computer intrusion (hacking) in recent years, followed by theft and handling of data.
After the theft, the affected companies received a message from the hackers stating that they had to pay a ransom. If they didn’t, the data would be released. The perpetrators demanded more than 100,000 euros and in a single case even 700,000 euros.
Some companies transferred the amount demanded, but then the stolen data was often resold on virtual black markets. The main suspect, the man from Zandvoort, would have earned several million euros from this.
In the break-ins, the hackers not only stole names and addresses of people from all over the world, but also bank account numbers, credit cards, passwords, social security numbers and passport information. Such information is valuable to fraudsters because it allows them to defraud people and companies. That is why fraudsters pay a lot of money on black markets.
Affected company is happy with arrests
Ticketcounter, a company that arranges online ticket sales for amusement parks and zoos, among others, is one of the companies affected, writes RTL News. Two years ago, a file containing data from 1.5 million Dutch customers was stolen from the company. That happened after the company accidentally put this file online.
“I am very happy that these people have been caught,” says director Sjoerd Bakker RTL News. “It shows that it is important to report as a victim. I am glad that I contributed to this.”
According to the police, the impact on all affected companies is major. “This not only concerns financial damage, but also reputational damage and all the extra efforts to restore systems.”
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