Black Axe gang leader now public enemy number one for gardaí monitoring cyber fraud
The West African man heads massive crime gang of up to 1,100 people in Ireland operating scams
One of the most powerful organised criminals in Ireland has amassed a fortune without any involvement in the drugs trade.
The west African man, aged in his 50s, is the leader of the Black Axe gang in Ireland and is public enemy number one for the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB).
His house in south-west Dublin is modest, but he is also known to enjoy the finer things in life.He presides over a major criminal network, with over 70 lieutenants working directly under him in Ireland.
“The leader of the Black Axe gang in Ireland is a major target of ours.He is a very good conman,” Detective Chief Superintendent Nigel Mulleady said.
“The gang are behind a significant amount of cyber crime and fraud committed here.We are arresting members of the organisation every week.
“We estimate there are around 1,100 people linked to the Black Axe gang in Ireland.It has a very defined structure.There are around 70 people here who are on the higher level of its network.
“As of last June, we’d made 377 arrests, but that figure is far higher now with more arrests every week.
“We use gangland legislation to target the leaders.
We have five members of the Black Axe convicted of gangland offences and one for directing a criminal organisation.
We target them under Operation Skein and they’re a major focus of the GNECB.”
It’s easy money, and some young people don’t see the harm in it
Det Chief Supt Mulleady said many young people are being sucked into the gang as “money mules”, transferring cash through their bank accounts on the gang’s behalf to launder it.
“It’s easy money, and some young people don’t see the harm in it.
They get a couple of hundred euro for making a simple bank transfer,” he said.
“But it’s very serious when gardaí identify money mules and knock on their door.Money laundering is a very serious criminal conviction, and people need to be aware of that.It prevents people from getting a visa to travel and it also means you can never get a job in a bank or other financial institution.”
The predominant cyber crime the gang are involved in is investment and romance scams, as well as Business Email Compromise (BEC) fraud.The gang originated in Africa in the 1970s and now has ‘branches’ around the world.
In recent years, Ireland became a stronghold for them, and gardaí have been at the forefront of a major crackdown on their operations.
Operation Skein is the Irish contribution to Interpol’s Operation Jackal, which is targeting the crime syndicate across 21 countries.
The gang flourished when Covid hit in 2020, and there was a major increase in all forms of cyber crime during the pandemic.
Last year, 226 people in Ireland were victims of investment fraud.The average amount of money each person lost was between €40,000 and €50,000.Many people thought they were investing in crypto currency or were dealing with a reputable investment broker or overseas bank and were often duped by professionally cloned websites.
There was a 92pc increase in investment fraud last year compared with pre-Covid times.It is mostly men being scammed, and some people have lost all of their life savings, often at an older stage in their lives.
“The people who commit these crimes, it’s very easy for them.
They are not standing in front of someone with a knife or a gun.They do not see the devastation and destruction they leave behind when people are left with nothing,” Det Chief Supt Mulleady said.
While men are more likely to fall victim to investment fraud, it is women who are in the sights of Black Axe when it comes to romance fraud.
Criminals monitor dating websites to prey on vulnerable people, often tracking their social media to uncover their interests and present themselves as like-minded.
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The criminals work off scripts proved to manipulate people.Some of these scripts have been tracked by gardaí to Tanzania.
“Often they’re targeting people who are divorced or widowed — €7m has been stolen in romance fraud in this country in the past five years,” Det Chief Supt Mulleady said.“And that’s just what we know of, in terms of people who have come forward.
The average amount stolen is €28,000.
“Loneliness is hard.People are genuinely hoping ‘this is the one’.One woman lost €400,000, another lost €350,000.”
A troubling new trend has emerged within romance fraud, known as “pig butchery”.This involves fraudsters, not satisfied with their love scam, who then also exploit people in a separate manner, conning them into investing in another fake enterprise.
“It’s basically getting scammed twice,” said Det Chief Supt Mullead, who warned about a new scam they have become aware of.
It takes place after fraudsters secure a person’s bank details and then set up a small monthly direct debit, often just a couple of euro.
“It’s a small amount and many people just don’t notice, or don’t notice it for some time.If it’s being done to a lot of people, it amounts to quite a lot of money.”
Advances in technology allowing people to set up bank accounts online are also being exploited.
Det Chief Supt Mulleady revealed that one financial institution has just been “taken for €600,000” amid a flurry of cyber criminals targeting the banks by setting up online accounts with fake documents and then withdrawing the maximum amount of cash or buying goods on credit cards.
However, it is not only the Black Axe gang who are in the sights of the GNECB.New cyber crime scams are emerging and developing.
The use of deepfake and AI in cyber crime, these are also on the rise
The head of the unit commonly known as the Fraud Squad warned about the emergence of “crime as a service” on the Dark Web.
Some people in Ireland who are “particularly computer-literate” have been detected using the Dark Web to buy databases of phone numbers to set up their own scams.They pay €1,000 or so for this “subscription service”, which sometimes includes a helpdesk would-be fraudsters can contact for advice.
People can then initiate a cyber crime scam on a solo basis, having acquired the know-how and tools on the Dark Web.
“The use of deepfake and AI in cyber crime, these are also on the rise,” Det Chief Supt Mulleady said.
“People who have never been involved in criminality before now can be.It makes the possibility of becoming a criminal much easier.”
He added that his unit is in need of more resources, “like every garda unit”, and that the GNECB will have plenty of work for nine new gardaí to be deployed to it next month..
