Spain dismantles “GXC Team” cybercrime syndicate, arrests leader

Spanish Guardia Civil have dismantled the “GXC Team” cybercrime operation and arrested its alleged leader, a 25-year-old Brazilian known as “GoogleXcoder.”

The GXC Team operated a crime-as-a-service (CaaS) platform offering AI-powered phishing kits, Android malware, and voice-scam tools via Telegram and a Russian-speaking hacker forum.

“The Civil Guard has dismantled one of the most active criminal organizations in the field of phishing in Spain, with the arrest of a 25-year-old Brazilian young man considered the main provider of tools for the massive theft of credentials in the Spanish-speaking environment,” announced Guardia Civil.

Group-IB has been tracking the operation and says that GXC Team was targeting banks, transport, and e-commerce entities in Spain, Slovakia, the UK, the US, and Brazil.

The phishing kits replicated the websites of tens of Spanish and international institutions, and powered at least 250 phishing sites.

The threat group also developed at least nine Android malware strains that intercepted SMS and one-time passwords (OTPs), useful for hijacking accounts and validating fraudulent transactions.

GXC Team also offered complete technical support and campaign customization services to its clients, acting as a pro-grade and high-yielding crime platform.

A police operation conducted on May 20, involved coordinated raids across Cantabria, Valladolid, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, San Fernando, and La Línea de la Concepción.

During these actions, the authorities seized electronic devices containing phishing kit source code, communications with clients, and financial records.

Law enforcement agents recovered cryptocurrency stolen from victims and shut down Telegram channels used to promote the scams. One of these channels was named “Steal everything from grandmothers.”

The authorities stated that the nationwide raids were made possible thanks to the analysis of the seized devices and cryptocurrency transactions of GoogleXcoder, who was arrested more than a year ago.

“The forensic analysis of the seized devices, as well as the cryptocurrency transactions, which lasted for more than a year due to their complexity, made it possible to reconstruct the entire criminal network, managing to identify six people directly related to the use of these services,” explained Guardia Civil.

The investigation into the GXC Team is still ongoing, and Spanish authorities have mentioned the possibility of further actions leading to the arrest of more members of the cybercrime ring.