In Ukraine, a fraudulent call center operated, scamming foreigners out of millions of hryvnias

In Ukraine, a fraudulent call center operated, scamming foreigners out of millions of hryvnias

Ukrainian law enforcement officers stopped the activities of a fraudulent call center whose "employees" caused losses to foreign citizens in the amount of at least 2.5 million UAH. The perpetrators’ "office" was found in Uzhgorod.

This was announced by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. The victims of the fraudsters were Czech citizens, so the operation was carried out jointly with the law enforcement agencies of this country.

During the investigation, it was found that the "call center" had six co-organizers, but in total 53 people worked there. They appropriated the money of Czech citizens using computer technology, specialized software, and telecommunications equipment. The scheme worked as follows:

• victims were advised to invest in non-existent crypto projects;
• the suspects posed as investment experts or bank employees to gain trust;
• then they fraudulently gained access to victims’ personal data and their banking accounts;
• the foreigners’ money was remotely transferred to controlled accounts using appropriate software.

The total amount of losses was estimated at over 2.5 million UAH. In addition, during searches, $7,700 in cash was seized and over 350 pieces of equipment used in the criminal scheme were confiscated, including:

• 65 computers and servers;
• cameras and recorders;
• over 130 SIM cards, including those of international operators;
• a vehicle belonging to the group members.

Currently, the organizers of the scam have been charged under Part 5 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (fraud, committed on a particularly large scale or by an organized group). Law enforcement is considering the issue of choosing detention as a preventive measure.