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Unraveling the crime scripts of phishing networks: an analysis of 45 court cases in the Netherlands

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Abstract

This article examines the modus operandi of phishing for information related to bank accounts in The Netherlands, by composing crime scripts based on 93 Dutch court transcripts. The analysis resulted in two overarching crime scripts of phishing. In the first crime script, criminals aim to steal victims' ATM cards and pin numbers. In crime script two, criminals aim to steal victims' personal data and verification codes—codes needed to confirm transfers—in order to deposit money from the bank accounts of victims to third parties' bank accounts, or to persuade victims to do this themselves. In conclusion, the modus operandi of phishing has not changed much in recent years, meaning that interventions targeting bottlenecks in the crime script can still very well be implemented. Furthermore, the results indicate that the modus operandi seems to become less technical, contradicting the idea that digitalization leads to more technically sophisticated phishing methods.

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All authors made a substantial contribution to the study conception and design. Data collection was performed by Joeri Loggen as part of his master thesis at VU University Amsterdam. Data analysis was done by Joeri Loggen under the supervision of Rutger Leukfeldt. Rutger Leukfeldt was responsible for writing the first draft of this manuscript. Both authors made revisions, and read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Joeri Loggen.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

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Loggen, J., Leukfeldt, R. Unraveling the crime scripts of phishing networks: an analysis of 45 court cases in the Netherlands. Trends Organ Crim 25, 205–225 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-022-09448-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-022-09448-z

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