European Cops Shut Down Fake Crypto Call Centers The Register

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European cops have arrested 15 suspected scammers and shut down a multi-country network of call centers selling fake cryptocurrencies that law enforcement says stole more than hundreds of millions of dollars from victims.

According to Europol, which became involved in the investigation in June 2022 at the request of German law enforcement, the scammers tricked their victims into investing large sums of money in fake cryptocurrency schemes.

Criminals advertised these fake investment opportunities on social media, luring victims to websites controlled by malefactors that promised too-good-to-be-true crypto investment opportunities. The scammers first convinced the victims to invest low triple-digit sums. Then, using the lure of fake price hikes and lucrative profits, the criminals tricked their victims into transferring larger amounts.

Most of the victims were from Germany, and the scammers defrauded these individuals alone out of more than $2 million ($2.2 million), according to police. However, others in Switzerland, Australia and Canada also lost money in the scam.

“The investigation suggests that the number of unreported cases is likely to be much higher,” Europol warned. “This would mean that the illegal gains generated by criminal groups, with at least four call centers in Eastern Europe, could amount to hundreds of millions of euros.”

In addition to arresting 14 suspects in Serbia and one in Germany, law enforcement has questioned 261 people in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany and Serbia, some of whom are awaiting prosecution.

Police from the four countries raided 22 sites, including the four call centers, 11 homes in Serbia and two in Cyprus, as well as two businesses and three residences in Bulgaria.

Additionally, they seized three hardware wallets containing approximately $1 million in cryptocurrencies, as well as 50,000 euros ($54,256.50) in cash, three vehicles, electronic equipment, data backups and documents.

The arrests and call center takedowns follow a similar operation in March in which Latvian and Lithuanian police arrested more than 100 people suspected of involvement in an international call center scam.

In this earlier scheme, hundreds of fake “traders” who spoke English, Russian, Polish and Hindi called victims to convince them to part with their savings with the promise of lucrative investment opportunities in Bitcoin, foreign currencies and raw materials.

Of course, these offers were all bogus. The only ones to get rich were the crooks, who according to Europol made an illegal profit of more than three million euros per month from the scam.

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