Security News > 2023 > January > Euro-cops shut down crypto scam that bilked millions from unwitting punters

European cops arrested 15 suspected scammers and shut down a multi-country network of call centers selling fake cryptocurrency that law enforcement said stole upwards of hundreds of million euros from victims.

The scammers tricked their victims into investing large sums of money into fake cryptocurrency schemes according to Europol, which became involved in the investigation in June 2022 at the behest of German law enforcement agencies.

"This would mean that the illegal gains generated by the criminal groups, with at least four call centers in eastern Europe, may be in the hundreds of millions of euros."

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The arrests and call center takedowns follow a similar operation in March during which Latvian and Lithuanian police detained more than 100 people suspected of being involved in an international call center scam.

In this earlier scheme, hundreds of fake "Traders" who spoke English, Russian, Polish and Hindi would call victims to talk them into parting with their savings with the promise of lucrative investment opportunities in Bitcoin, foreign currencies and commodities.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/01/13/europol_crypto_investment_arrests/