A network of call centers posing as financial consultants and offering Europeans to make money on cryptocurrencies and stocks has been exposed in Ukraine. According to police, at least 135 German citizens lost more than 4.3 million euros. Four suspects have already been detained.
A network of call centers posing as financial consultants and offering Europeans to make money on cryptocurrencies and stocks has been exposed in Ukraine. According to police, at least 135 German citizens lost more than 4.3 million euros. Four suspects have already been detained.
This was reported by the Cyber Police of Ukraine.
Initially, the scammers would get to know their future victims by phone or through instant messengers. They would introduce themselves as brokers, talk about investment opportunities, and offer to invest money in cryptocurrency, stocks, and other assets.
To be convincing, the criminals used fake investment platforms. When they managed to interest a person, the scammers moved from talk to action: they helped clients register on cryptocurrency exchanges, buy digital assets and transfer them to the necessary accounts. But these accounts belonged to the attackers themselves. Sometimes the scammers managed to go even further and gained access to their victims' online banking.
The stolen money was transferred between banks, crypto exchanges, and intermediary crypto wallets, exchanged for other assets, and shared among network participants, making the trail of funds more difficult to trace.
The fraudulent network was exposed as part of the international operation Trade, which Ukrainian law enforcement officers conducted together with German colleagues.
In total, four people were detained - the alleged organizer of the network and three perpetrators. They, as well as another accomplice, were informed of suspicion of fraud and participation in a criminal organization. Four suspects were sent to custody, another co-organizer - to house arrest. They face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
Earlier, dev.ua wrote that a 21-year-old man will be tried in Kyiv for using a Telegram dating bot to extort UAH 1.6 million from the daughter of a deceased serviceman. He promised to teach the girl how to earn money on cryptocurrency, but in return he gained access to her online banking and withdrew money from her accounts.
