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Several crypto scams linked call centers that were functioning in multiple European countries were discovered and closed this week by Europol. Cybercriminals used these call centers to convince individuals to invest money in the “Pig Butchering” cryptocurrency scams.
The cross-border investigation involved law enforcement from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, and Serbia and started in June 2022.
How the Scams Worked
Threat actors used social media ads to attract victims to fake websites that offered incredible investment opportunities in cryptocurrency.
The victims (…) would first invest low, three-digit sums. Fake price hikes leading to supposedly lucrative profits for investors then persuaded them to make transfers of higher amounts.
Police estimate that more than two million euros were stolen from German citizens. But this represents only the cases in which the victims called the authorities after losing money, so losses probably raise to ”hundreds of millions of euros”.
People from other countries around the world, like Switzerland, Australia, and Canada, were also scammed by the “Pig Butchering” cryptocurrency scams.
The Europol Intervention
On the action that took place on 11 January 2023, Europol made 15 arrests (14 in Serbia and one in Germany) and seized $1 million in cryptocurrencies and €50,000 in cash, 3 cars, electronics, data and documents.
For this operation, 261 suspects were questioned, and 22 locations were searched (5 in Bulgaria, 2 in Cyprus, and 15 in Serbia).
The group behind the cryptocurrency scams included 200 persons who made fake calls and took thousands of euros from victims daily.
The organized crime group behind the taken-down call centers coordinated an army of 200 “traders” who called targets in English, Russian, Polish, and Hindi to present fake investment opportunities in cryptocurrency, commodities, and foreign currencies, scamming their victims out of at least €3,000,000 each month.
This is not the first hit that cyber scams are taken, in March 2022, Europol discovered another similar call center and made 108 arrests in Latvia and Lithuania.
How to Stay Safe
According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) 46,000 Americans were affected by cybercurrency scams by June 2022. And $1 billion was lost to threat actors between January 2021 and March 2022.
This is a big change compared to 2021 when 7,000 people reported such incidents and the total losses were up to $80 million.
To stay safe from ‘Pig Butchering’ scams, you can read the following warning signs shared by the FBI:
- A stranger or a distant contact reaches out to you on social media.
- The URL that you are given is not the same as the official site of a known cryptocurrency market but resembles a lot (typosquatting).
- You receive security warnings when you download the investment application.
- It simply sounds too good to be true, is once in a lifetime opportunity, etc.
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