Security News > 2024 > May > Police shuts down 12 fraud call centres, arrests 21 suspects
Law enforcement shut down 12 phone fraud call centers in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Lebanon, behind thousands of scam calls daily.
The law enforcement operation also yielded critical electronic evidence expected to identify other call centers and potential fraud perpetrators.
"The callers' playbooks would range from shocking fake police calls, persuasive investment fraud or heart-wrenching romance scams."
"Scam callers would pose as close relatives, bank employees, customer service agents, or police officers. Using a variety of manipulation tactics, they would shock and cheat their victims out of their savings," Europol added.
Last year, police also took down multiple call centers across Europe controlled by a criminal organization involved in online investment fraud.
In March of 2022, Europol announced that a massive call center investment scam operation, which employed 200 "Traders" to steal a minimum of €3,000,000 from victims each month, had also been dismantled after 108 suspects were arrested in Latvia and Lithuania.