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Authorities from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, and Serbia, with help from Europol and Eurojust, worked together to break up a cybercrime ring that was involved in online investment fraud. Since June 2022, when German authorities first asked for help, the European police have supported this investigation.
The suspects used advertisements on social networks to lure victims to websites covertly operated by the criminals, which offered seemingly exceptional investment opportunities in cryptocurrencies.
The group used call centers to trick victims into investing large amounts of money in fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes. The suspects used social media adverts to lure victims to websites that were secretly managed by the crooks and advertised supposedly great cryptocurrency investment opportunities.
The Victims Lost Over 2 Million Euros
According to a press release issued by Europol, 261 people have been questioned, with some facing charges (42 in Bulgaria, 2 in Cyprus, 3 in Germany, and 214 in Serbia). The police raided 22 addresses (5 in Bulgaria, 2 in Cyprus, and 15 in Serbia), including four call centers and eleven residences in Serbia, two residences in Cyprus, and two companies and three households in Bulgaria.
In addition to the three vehicles, laptops, backups, papers, and over $1 million in cryptocurrencies from three digital wallets, police also took approximately €50,000 ($54,000), explains Security Affairs.
Seizures include 3 hardware wallets with about USD 1 million in cryptocurrencies on it and about EUR 50 000 in cash, 3 vehicles, electronic equipment and data back-ups, documents.
In most cases, German victims were lured into investing low sums, then persuaded to transfer higher sums. As a result, victims have suffered financial losses of more than two million euros. Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg since many frauds went unreported by victims, increasing the overall financial loss to hundreds of millions of euros.
The full press release published by Europol is available here.
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Madalina, a seasoned digital content creator at Heimdal®, blends her passion for cybersecurity with an 8-year background in PR & CSR consultancy. Skilled in making complex cyber topics accessible, she bridges the gap between cyber experts and the wider audience with finesse.
