Ukrainian investigators have arrested a call center operator accused of defrauding an estimated 18,000 Kazakhstani victims.
Officials from the Ukrainian Cyber Police Service and the National Police’s Main Investigative Service have worked together to arrest 40 people in connection with the scheme.
Call center staff posing as bank IT security personnel called targets in Kazakhstan.
The victim apparently pulled sensitive account information under the guise of trying to cancel a “fraudulent” transaction after convincing him that his account had been accessed by an outsider.
Scammers used this account information to access victims’ funds, transfer money to accounts they controlled, or take out loans in their name.
The organizers of the scheme are said to have paid call center operators extra fees depending on how much money they got from the victims.
According to Ukrainian cyber police, victims were systematically targeted from a database containing personal information, but it is unknown how much money was ultimately stolen from these victims.
A search of the call center and the suspect’s home uncovered the existence of these lists and seized 45 items of computer equipment, mobile phones and SIM cards.
Investigations are ongoing, but those already arrested face up to eight years in prison for offenses under Part 3 of Article 190 (Fraud) of the Ukrainian Criminal Code.
Police in Eastern European countries will have some similar successes in 2022.
In August, it claimed to have exposed a bank vishing scheme designed to trick victims into handing over their card details, as well as a network of call centers involved in cryptocurrency investment scams.
Then, in November, Ukrainian police played a key role in an international police operation to uncover a $200 million investment fraud operation involving an estimated 2,000 people.
Editorial Credit Icon Image: aquatarkus / Shutterstock.com
