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Banking phishing: The case of Brazil
Cyber Security: A Peer-Reviewed Journal,
2
(1),
6-16
(2018)
Abstract
This paper discusses the role of phishing in the global cyberthreat scenario, especially with regard to Brazil, which has emerged as the country with the highest percentage of this type of attack. Specifically, it is relevant to the analysis of bank phishing, by which criminals, through the use of malware and social engineering, can capture bank data of thousands of users. They then steal money from bank accounts over the internet. In order to commit their crime, cybercriminals lure or use mules who receive stolen money into their bank accounts and then pass it on to the leaders of criminal groups. The methodology adopted was a bibliographic research and a case study on Operation ‘Android’, carried out by the Civil Police of Pará State, Brazil in 2009. The paper concludes that it is necessary for law enforcement agencies to adopt robust measures, which, along with more conscious security practices by users, may remove Brazil from the top of the ranking of countries with the highest percentage of phishing in the world.
Keywords: financial phishing; bank malware; money mule; cyber law enforcement; Brazilian cybercrime
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Beatriz Silveira Brasil works for INTERPOL as a Cybercrime Intelligence Officer. Prior to that, she worked at the Civil Police of Pará State, Northern Brazil and was special advisor on intelligence and corporate security to the State Secretary of Environment and Sustainability. She holds an MSc in social defence and conflict mediation (UFPA), with a thesis on the subject of ‘Violence in Cyberspace’. She is a specialist in public security policy and management (Estácio FAP). She holds a BSc in law from the University of the Amazon (UNAMA). She is an instructor on digital law, lawful telephone interception, telematic interception, intelligence activity, modern police investigation, cybercrime investigation and environmental intelligence, and has coordinated numerous police operations against cybercrime, bank fraud, money laundering and environmental organised crime. She was awarded the ‘Evanovich Police Investigation’ and ‘Police Merit’ medals for her role in complex police investigations. She is the co-author of the book Cybernetic Investigation Handbook: In the Light of the Brazilian Civil Internet Framework.
Karina Correia Figueiredo Campelo works for the Civil Police of Pará State, Northern Brazil, where she is head of the Division of Prevention and Repression of Cybercrime. She holds a BSc in law from the University of the Amazon (UNAMA). She is an instructor on cybercrime at the Civil Police Academy of Pará State. She has been responsible for numerous police operations against cybercrime, money laundering and bank fraud. She is a Masters candidate in public security (UFPA).
