WhatsApp Turns Into Secret Tool for Financing Terrorism Across Europe!

A European investigation has uncovered the use of WhatsApp chat groups to transfer hundreds of millions of euros in cash around the world, aiming to finance terrorist groups such as ISIS and support organized crime without leaving any trace.

The investigation cited a chat group with 532 members called "Major Traders of Europe," which coordinated cross-border cash transfers, including to British cities such as Birmingham and London.

In one case, payments were directed from Brussels to fighters affiliated with ISIS in Syria, according to a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Additionally, the investigative journalism network affiliated with the European Broadcasting Union, which includes BBC, found broader evidence indicating the use of similar money transfer systems in human trafficking and drug smuggling.

The chat group, which contained over 82,000 messages sent between late February and December 2022, was first revealed by Belgian investigating judge Vincent Gheerbrant. Gheerbrant stated that the number of transactions was "staggering," and the network spanned the "entire world," adding that the case initially began as an investigation into terrorism financing but had now become "just a drop in the ocean" of transactions.

Members of the chat group exchanged messages in Arabic to arrange cash transfers using an old system based on a network of trusted brokers who arranged global money transfers without any electronic records or physical movement of cash.

The system operates through an agreement between two brokers known as "money changers," located in different places: one receives cash, while the other agrees to deliver the same amount to the recipient after deducting a commission, with the two intermediaries later settling all their transactions among themselves.

This method is commonly used for legitimate purposes, such as sending money to migrants’ families in countries with limited access to banking services. However, criminals can also exploit these transfers to circumvent SWIFT, the system used in most international financial transfers, where banks typically scrutinize large transactions outside normal patterns and are required to report suspicious activity.

This system is illegal in many countries, including most EU member states, but it is legal in the UK as long as intermediaries are registered with the country’s tax and customs authority.