Morocco and Interpol Work Together to Arrest Allegedly Prolific Cybercriminals

According to information collected by Morocco Telegraph published on the official website of Interpol, Moroccan authorities have arrested a suspect known in underground hacking circles as “Dr HeX” on suspicion of orchestrating a 12-year-old cybercrime spree that included website defacements, phishing attacks, and malware distribution according to the Interpol.

These were then used to imitate online banking services, enabling the suspect and others to steal confidential information and defraud trusting individuals for financial gain, with personal and corporate losses published online to promote these malicious services.

INTERPOL’s Cybercrime Directorate collaborated closely with Group-IB and Moroccan Police via the INTERPOL National Central Bureau in Rabat during Operation Lyrebird to eventually locate and apprehend the individual who remains under investigation.

The arrest of the suspect is the direct consequence of outstanding international investigative work and new methods of collaboration with Moroccan police as well as the crucial private sector partners like Group-IB.

Group-IB noted that the suspect was involved in 134 website attacks between 2009 and 2018, leaving his signature name on web pages, they managed to link an email address used in one of Dr HeX’s phishing kits to the suspect’s real-world identity.

The arrest of this cybercriminal thanks to Moroccan collaboration is considered a success according to the Interpol.