Police officers from the Robbery and Theft Police Station (DRF), together with the Special Action Group to Combat Organized Crime (Gaeco), from the Public Ministry, carried out this Thursday (21), in Rio de Janeiro, an operation against a criminal organization specializing in bank fraud. The group would have caused losses of more than R$40 million to Banco do Brasil (BB). This is the fourth phase of the operation and the scam was detected and reported to the police.
The agents carried out 16 search and seizure warrants against 11 people being investigated in the North and West zones of Rio, in addition to Niterói and São Gonçalo, and seized six cell phone devices; two notebooks; 3 CPUs; six memory cards; five flash drives; three external hard drives and 32 magnetic cards.
The investigation revealed that criminals used clandestine electronic devices to access internal bank branch systems and obtain confidential customer data, manipulating this information to commit financial fraud.
The attacks have been identified since December 2023 in agencies located in Recreio dos Bandeirantes, Barra da Tijuca, Vila Isabel and Centro do Rio, as well as units in the municipalities of Niterói, Tanguá, Nilópolis and Duque de Caxias.
In a note, Banco do Brasil informed that this is an extension of an operation that began last July and is in its fourth phase. The investigations began with an internal investigation that detected irregularities that were reported to the police.
The text also says that “BB has established processes for monitoring and investigating fraud against the institution, has adopted all measures within its scope of action and collaborates with investigations”.
According to the Specialized Action Group to Combat Organized Crime of the Public Ministry of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Gaeco/MPRJ), the targets of the operation Master Key are investigated in an investigation that investigates the crimes of criminal organization and hacking of a computer device. The investigations began based on information gathered by Banco do Brasil’s Institutional Security Unit. The names of those involved have not yet been released.
Warrants are issued
At the request of the MPRJ, the Court of the 1st Criminal Court Specialized in Criminal Organizations of the Capital issued search and seizure warrants.
Still according to the investigations, in just eight months the investigated invaded the security system of Banco do Brasil branches located in Recreio dos Bandeirantes, Barra da Tijuca, Vila Isabel and Centro do Rio, in addition to units located in Niterói, Tanguá, Nilópolis and Duque de Caxias.
The investigation also showed that the group operated in an organized manner, with specific tasks being divided between recruiters, recruiters, installers, financial operators and leaders.
