As part of measures to combat investment fraud in Kyiv, searches were carried out in call centers, suspects were detained, the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) has said.
“On November 8 and 9, 2022, the Prosecutor General’s Office, together with law enforcement officers and international partners, conducted searches in call centers in Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, North Macedonia and Ukraine, and arrested suspects,” the PGO said on its Telegram channel on Thursday.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the Prosecutor General’s Office, coordinated by Europol and Eurojust, takes part in measures to combat large-scale investment fraud involving hundreds of thousands of victims.
“The suspects belong to an international organized criminal group (OCG) involved in investment fraud using cryptocurrencies. Dozens of call centers in several countries and hundreds of online platforms have been created for this,” the PGO said.
According to the prosecutors, the suspects posed as brokers helping investors make big money with little investment.
“They deceived the victims, gained their trust on the Internet and created call centers. Later, the victims invested funds through web platforms controlled by the criminal organization and lost large amounts of money,” the prosecutor’s office said.
According to investigators, hundreds of thousands of investors around the world suffered from fraud, the damage is estimated at EUR 200 million per year.
According to the report, the cyber fraud investigation began in 2020, including in Ukraine.
“As part of the investigation, searches were conducted in call centers and in the places of residence of the defendants. Suspects who were staying in European countries were detained… a number of searches were made and illegal activities of call centers in Kyiv were revealed. Half a thousand laptops, electronic storage media, surveillance cameras, mobile phones and draft recordings have been seized,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said.
