Europol and Microsoft dismantle global email scam network.

Europol and Microsoft have dismantled the RedVDS infrastructure – a "phishing factory" – that was distributing over 1 million phishing emails every month, causing tens of millions of dollars in losses globally.

Screenshot of the RedVDS user dashboard, including the loyalty program and referral bonuses - Photo: Blogs.microsoft.com

According to the Vietnam News Agency correspondent in France, the European Police Agency (Europol) has recently collaborated with the technology giant Microsoft to conduct a joint operation aimed at disabling a large-scale online fraud infrastructure network that distributes more than 1 million phishing emails globally every month.

Damages amounting to tens of millions of USD.

The operation dismantled a network of virtual servers called RedVDS that allowed cybercriminals to conduct large-scale phishing campaigns.

This system operates publicly, can be easily found through search engines, and offers a subscription-based service at a cost of approximately $24 per month.

By distributing servers across multiple countries, criminals have exploited this infrastructure to send millions of phishing emails to victims, bypassing conventional security filters.

According to Microsoft, on average, its customers alone receive approximately 1 million phishing emails per month from the aforementioned network.

Since March 2025, activities related to RedVDS have caused approximately $40 million in losses in the US alone. This figure only accounts for reported fraud cases, while the actual number may be even higher.

This network has been particularly abused in the real estate sector, with over 9,000 customers having their deposits or payments defrauded upon completion of transactions.

Global density of Microsoft email accounts compromised via RedVDS from September 2025 to December 2025. The five most affected countries are the US, Canada, the UK, France, and India. - Image: Blogs.microsoft.com

Over 191,000 email accounts were compromised.

Regarding account breaches, Microsoft estimates that more than 191,000 Outlook email accounts belonging to approximately 130,000 organizations worldwide have been compromised since September 2025.

The countries most severely affected include the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and India.

According to Europol and Microsoft, RedVDS also provides a complete set of tools for phishing, allowing perpetrators to use lists of thousands of email addresses collected from previous data breaches, while maintaining long-term access to compromised mailboxes to continue stealing information and carrying out illegal transactions.

The RedVDS website has now been disabled, and most access to the servers has been blocked, but a complete system cleanup is still underway. The individuals behind this network have not yet been apprehended.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/europol-va-microsoft-pha-mang-luoi-lua-dao-toan-cau-qua-email-20260116114026901.htm