Ukraine’s Cyberpolice Expose Members of Crypto Fraud Scheme Making €200 Million a Year – The cybercrime combating unit of the National Police of Ukraine (NPU) has uncovered five Ukrainian nationals accused of participation in a large-scale worldwide scheme that enticed victims with the promise of significant returns from fraudulent investments in cryptocurrencies and securities. Ukrainian police officials disclosed that the entity behind the criminal organization has built representative offices and call centers around Europe. A press release stated that the company’s expected yearly losses exceeded €200 million ($207 million).
The operation was conducted with the NPU’s Main Investigative Department, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, and with the assistance of Europol, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, and Eurojust, the EU’s judicial cooperation authority. Albania, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Latvia, and Spain law enforcement agencies also contributed to the investigation against the group that began in Ukraine in 2020. Cyberpolice reported that seven countries have begun court procedures in relation to the matter.
The criminal group’s customer service centers operated in multiple European countries and employed more than 2,000 people. Their primary objective was to persuade investors that investing in cryptocurrencies and trading equities, bonds, and options could provide significant returns. Europol reports that hundreds of thousands of people around the world have been touched by the illicit actions of the transnational group. On its platforms, the plan replicated the growth of assets, but investors were never permitted to withdraw their winnings.
Three of the call centers for which the five Ukrainians were responsible were located in Kyiv and Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine. Under Ukrainian law, if convicted, the organizers face up to eight years in prison. In August, the existence of the network was first revealed. The residences of the Ukrainian suspects as well as those of the other gang members residing in other countries have been searched by law enforcement officials. During the searches, over 500 computers and mobile phones were seized, according to the Cyberpolice department.
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