The National Police Agency said Thursday it will set up a special unit to investigate illegal money transfers committed by cracking the IDs and passwords of online banking users.

The team, to be launched July 1, will consist of 14 investigators from 11 prefectural forces who will be based at the Metropolitan Police Department.

The total amount of damage in such cases this year had reached around ¥123 million as of June 10, a 2.5-fold increase from last year, according to the NPA.

In many cases, IDs and passwords of online banking users are cracked through computer virus infections.