A criminal network that preyed on unsuspecting individuals in Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, and the European Union by operating deceitful call centers that promised lucrative cryptocurrency investments has been dismantled by Ukrainian authorities. The National Police of Ukraine successfully apprehended 14 suspects, including the alleged masterminds behind the operation, and confiscated an impressive array of assets, including 12 luxury vehicles, 136 pieces of computer equipment, 951 SIM cards, 455 starter packs, and a substantial amount of cash. The two individuals accused of orchestrating this elaborate scam are both from Georgia and are aged 49 and 51. They recruited 12 additional individuals to staff the fraudulent call centers, which posed as experts in the stock exchange. These call centers utilized psychological techniques to persuade their victims to invest in cryptocurrency, ultimately redirecting the funds to the criminals’ electronic wallets and bank cards. Each member of the criminal operation had specific responsibilities, ranging from devising fraudulent schemes to recruiting personnel and distributing the ill-gotten gains.
