Investigators in Ukraine busted a scam ring that has been scamming residents across Europe with a series of schemes including cryptocurrencies.
Using a call center network in Ukraine, the criminals targeted investors and used dubious means to collect financial information that they would then use to steal from their victims.
Fake call centers promising huge crypto profits
So the call centers are actually based in Ukraine. From here, the scammers make calls to unsuspecting investors and convince them to take part in some crypto trading and other forms of investment channels such as commodities and securities, reports Ukraine Police in a press release Luckily, the police officers drawn from the Ukraine’s National Police and Security Service exposed the group.
According to the investigators, the scammers had built an elaborate network of call centers from where they pretended to be representatives of government owned financial institutions such as banks. This enabled them to easily collect sensitive financial information such as credit card data from their victims who could not suspect that these were simply criminals masquerading as state bank officials.
Once they got the victims’ attention through calls, the spammers directed them as well to fraudulent websites and investment platforms that pretend to trade all manner of instruments including cryptocurrency, gold and even oil. They vigorously marketed these platforms and websites to potential investors, promising them fat profits within a short period after investing.
The spammers also targeted foreign nationals based in Ukraine and other countries in Europe, having gotten their information from criminal databases that contain details of foreigners that have been previously scammed. Using the non-existent entity known as “Community of cryptocurrency brokers’’, they told these victims that they were in a position to help them pursue and find their lost funds at a commission. Excited by the prospect of recovering their money, some of these victims accepted the services. The scammers then directed them to: send the commission first. Once the so called community of cryptocurrency brokers received the commission funds, they terminated communication.
Ukrainian police managed to recover complex equipment that these scammers were using to run the call centers. They also recovered records containing the stolen data that these criminals were using to execute their con schemes. The scammers who were caught are now in the custody of the Ukrainian police.
What is a cryptocurrency scam?
A cryptocurrency scam is a type of scam where someone tries to steal your money by convincing you to invest in a worthless digital currency or exchange. They might promise huge returns on your investment, or claim that the currency is about to take off.
But the thing is, these currencies are all digital and they’re not backed by anything. So there’s no guarantee that you’ll get your money back, even if the currency does take off.
So before you invest in any cryptocurrency, do your research and make sure you know what you’re getting into. Scammers often use phishing emails to steal information such as online wallet addresses and private keys. They may also try to impersonate legitimate cryptocurrency companies or exchanges in order to steal your money.
And who is behind these scams? often, it’s criminals who are looking to make a quick buck. They might be part of a larger racketeering scheme, or they might be working on their own. But the bottom line is that you can’t trust them, and you should be careful before investing in any cryptocurrencies.
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