Ukrainian and Kazakh police have liquidated an international fraudulent call center in Bukovina
In Bukovina, Ukrainian and Kazakh law enforcement officers eliminated an international fraudulent call center, reports the National Police of Ukraine.
The perpetrators posed as employees of the law enforcement agencies and banks of the Republic of Kazakhstan and, under the pretext of alleged problems with law enforcement agencies, forced citizens to transfer money. According to preliminary data, they defrauded residents of Kazakhstan in the amount of over UAH 70 million.
The detection and detention operation was organized by the operatives of the Strategic Investigation Department in Chernivtsi region together with the investigators of the regional police, the prosecutor’s office and the cybercrime countermeasures department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan.
Law enforcement officers established that the organization was created by a 29-year-old resident of Chernivtsi and a 40-year-old citizen of Russia. There was a clear hierarchy in the call center: administrators supervised and trained employees, HR handled recruiting and finance, “coolers” called potential victims, and “clousers” – experienced employees – convinced people to agree to the scammers’ terms. There was even a power unit and technical staff.
The fraudsters used video communications with deepfake technology and uniforms to convince people of their connection to Kazakh law enforcement and banking structures. They demanded payment under the threat of criminal prosecution. The money received was used for the operation of the call center and the purchase of cars. The maintenance of the “office” cost about UAH 2.5 million per month, and one of the organizers bought five cars in six months.
With the support of the KORD soldiers, the special police regiment and operatives of the USR in the Odesa region, the organizers and participants of the call center were detained in a procedural manner. Computer equipment, work instructions, correspondence in messengers, records about crypto wallets, bank cards and uniforms of Kazakh law enforcement officers were seized.
As part of the criminal proceedings, six persons — the organizer, co-organizer and four executors — were notified of suspicion of creating and participating in a criminal organization (Parts 1 and 2 of Article 255 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and fraud (Part 5 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), which provides for up to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property. Currently, all suspects have been remanded in custody.
