Europe-wide raids against suspects in online banking fraud

Police in three European countries have raided homes and offices linked to a gang of suspected cyberthieves that targeted online banking customers in Germany.

Prosecutors in Frankfurt say the raids in Germany, Latvia and Britain on Tuesday targeted 10 premises and 12 suspects.

In a statement Wednesday, prosecutors said the suspects used so-called phishing attacks to gain access to victims' passwords and then obtained duplicate SIM cards for their cellphones.

Using those SIM cards they were able to receive text messages from the victims' bank containing an authorization code needed for money transfers.

Prosecutors said the main suspect is a 34-year-old Belarusian citizen who was arrested in Frankfurt in February. A 27-year-old dual citizen of Kazakhstan and Germany was arrested Tuesday, as was a 47-year-old Moldovan citizen living in London.

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