Europol and Eurojust have announced the arrest of five individuals believed to be involved in an online investment fraud scheme. The fraudulent operation lured victims through web and social media banner ads, with small initial investments promised to generate large profits.
Victims were then contacted by personal financial advisors, who promised even higher profits on bigger investments. The scheme ran from 2019 to 2021, with the suspects setting up call centres in Bulgaria and Romania.
Europol said the fraud ring had at least 33,000 victims who lost an estimated €89 million.
Last month’s arrests followed an earlier investigation into fraudulent online trading platforms for financial services with binary options. The investigations led to coordinated actions in Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Ukraine. The call centers used for the scam were found to have employed approximately 100 people, who contacted clients under the guise of financial advisers. The call center employees were given scripts that contained predefined conversations and key messaging to convince clients to release more funds.
The majority of the call center workers were unaware of their employer’s participation in a fraudulent scheme.
The announcement follows the arrest of five key members of another international investment fraud ring by Ukraine’s cyber police and Europol. The fraudsters operated from call centers and offices across multiple European countries, including Ukraine, Germany, Spain, Latvia, Finland, and Albania. The victims were tricked into making fictitious investments through a broad network of websites posing as legitimate portals for cryptocurrency, stocks, bonds, futures, and options investments.
These fake investment websites falsely promised to generate substantial profits for investors, persuading victims to invest further and fall into the scammers’ trap. The estimated losses were more than €200 million annually.
