Multi-Million Euro Crypto Fraud Operation Busted
According to Eurojust, the EU’s transnational agency for combating organised crime, authorities have dismantled a crypto fraud operation operating out of Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Serbia that defrauded victims of “at least tens of millions of euros.”
Four call centres and 18 additional locations were searched during the bust, and 14 people were detained in Serbia and one in Germany, according to a Friday announcement.
According to Eurojust, “the network operated professionally to set up call centres, which fraudulently obtained at least tens of millions of euros from numerous victims in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Australia, and Canada.”
Over 150 computers, various electronic devices, data backups, three cars, two opulent apartments, $1 million worth of cryptocurrencies, and €50,000 in cash were all seized overall after more than 250 people were questioned.
The operation involved finding prospective investors online, getting in touch with them by phone, and persuading them to make small investments that produced quick profits. The victims were then urged to make additional investments, which they later lost.
The criminals used technological infrastructure in Bulgaria to run the call centres from Serbia, and they laundered the money in Cyprus.
Criminal networks frequently use cryptocurrency investment fraud to target victims looking to make sizable short-term financial gains. Authorities in Italy and Albania busted what is believed to have been a $16 million cryptocurrency investment scam in December.
(With inputs from Shikha Singh)
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