Czech, Ukrainian Police Bust Call Centre Scamming Europeans

Czech law enforcement agencies, in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine, have stopped the activities of a fraudulent group in Ukraine that was luring money from Czechs and other European citizens with fake investment offers.

The Gaze reports on this with reference to the Czech police press service.

An international special operation disrupted the activities of a fraudulent call centre in Zakarpattia, which was used to defraud citizens of the Czech Republic and other EU countries. A total of 70 suspects were detained, including four people believed to be the group's leaders. Hundreds of pieces of communication equipment and computers were seized. 

The detentions, which took place between 29 April and 2 May in Ukraine, were the result of a six-month investigation involving law enforcement agencies from the Czech Republic and Ukraine and supported by Eurojust. 

The criminals created fake ‘investment platforms’ that at first glance did not raise any major doubts and used online advertising to look for Europeans willing to invest their money. The procedure involved installing a remote access application on an electronic device. The lured funds were transferred into cryptocurrency. 

The fraudsters swindled about 9 million CZK (over 360 thousand euros) from Czech citizens alone, with 37 victims. The potential damage at the level of all EU countries where the fraudsters have reached could be millions of euros - the scale of the problem is still being established. 

The call centre was located on two floors of the building, had its own servers inside the premises, enhanced security, an electronic access control system and dozens of surveillance cameras. 

In addition to the raid on the office, searches were conducted at the suspects' homes. 

The group's leaders were charged under articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on fraud on a large scale and face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.