A scheme that was targeting residents of Ukraine, along with those of the European Union, has recently been exposed by Ukrainian authorities.
It involved the use of different financial scams, including those related to cryptocurrencies. The criminal organization used call centers for contacting their victims and collecting personal financial information.
Call centers
The Main Investigative Department of the SBU in Ukraine has managed to break down a criminal group that was responsible for schemes aimed at the misappropriation of funds.
The organization targeted people living in Ukraine, as well as those in different countries of the European Union.
The group offered investors the opportunity of participating in trading commodities, securities, and also cryptocurrencies.
Investigators discovered that a network of call centers had been established by scammers and they claimed to be officials of state banking institutions.
They asked people to share their credit card information and were able to mask their actual phone numbers and change them to official banking numbers through the use of advanced software and equipment.
Fraudulent websites and platforms were also set up by those behind the schemes for trading digital and fiat currencies, oil, gold, and securities.
The details
According to the National Police of Ukraine, the criminal organization promised high profits in a short time span for attracting investments.
In addition, they were also able to get access to a database of contact information of those living in other countries, who had been through similar incidents previously.
They claimed to be a part of a ‘community of crypto brokers’ and offered to help them in tracking their stolen digital assets in exchange for a ‘commission’.
Once the victims accepted the offer of assistance, they were asked to send the commission in question to accounts that were under the control of the fraudsters.
Of course, in true scam fashion, these ‘brokers’ would immediately break contact once they received the funds and the victims would only add to their losses and never see their cryptocurrency again.
The search
Ukrainian law enforcement was very thorough in their investigation and search. They visited the addresses that belonged to these fraudulent call centers and seized a lot of things.
These include records, mobile phones, and computer equipment, all of which confirmed the illegal activities that were being carried out.
The Criminal Code of Ukraine is quite tough and the perpetrators who are involved in these schemes could end up being sent to prison for 12 years.
This would happen if they are found guilty of committing large-scale fraud through an organized group and also for using, selling, and distributing harmful software.
Crypto scams are not exactly a new concept and they have risen significantly in the last couple of years because there has been a great deal of interest generated in the space.
With more traffic coming, it is a given that criminals will also become more active in the space and this is exactly what seems to be happening.
