Law enforcement agencies from across Europe have dismantled a major fraud operation based in Ukraine that is believed to have caused victims more than €10 million ($11.7 million) in losses.
The coordinated operation was led by Eurojust and involved authorities from the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine. The authorities conducted 72 searches across the Ukrainian cities of Dnipro, Ivano-Frankivsk and Kyiv. Twelve suspects were arrested, while 45 others were identified as part of the investigation.
During the raids, police seized forged police and bank employee identification documents, computers, laptops, hard drives, mobile phones and a polygraph machine. Authorities also confiscated cash, 21 vehicles, as well as various weapons and ammunition.
The authorities believe the fraud ring operated through call centers in the three cities. Scammers allegedly tricked victims into installing remote access software, allowing criminals to steal online banking credentials. In other cases, victims were falsely told their bank accounts had been compromised and were instructed to transfer funds to so-called “safe” accounts controlled by the network.
Around 100 individuals from the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania and other countries were reportedly recruited to work in the call centers, earning up to 7% of the stolen funds as commission. Eurojust said participants were also promised bonuses, including cash, cars or even a new apartment in Kyiv, if they generated more than €100,000 in illicit proceeds.
Members of the network were assigned specific roles, ranging from making scam calls and forging official police and bank documents to collecting cash directly from victims.