Ukrainian police shut down 94 scam call centres, seize $2 million in cash
A joint operation with German investigators dismantled fake investment platforms and bank-impersonation scams targeting victims across the EU.
Key points
- Ukrainian police shut down 94 fraudulent call centres this week after 411 coordinated searches across the country.
- Officers seized $2 million, 64,000 euros, 1 kilogram of gold and 5,200 SIM cards from the sites.
- 26 people have been formally named as suspects and face up to 12 years in prison under Ukrainian law.
- Callers impersonated bank staff, brokers and law enforcement officers, pushing victims onto fake investment platforms.
- The Security Service of Ukraine, the Prosecutor General's Office and German police worked jointly on the investigation.
Ukrainian authorities have dismantled 94 call centres running phone scams against victims in Ukraine and across the European Union, one of the largest sweeps of its kind this year.
The operation, first reported by BleepingComputer, involved 411 simultaneous searches. Officers from the National Police, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Prosecutor General's Office and German police all took part. German investigators' reach into this operation is consistent with the cross-border coordination we covered on 23 July, when German police shut down the Kratos phishing network and seized more than 200 servers.
The call centres ran several scripts. Some callers pretended to be bank staff warning of suspicious transactions. Others posed as brokers offering high-return investments on fake platforms. Some claimed to be police officers.
The goal was almost always the same: get the victim to hand over card details, take out a loan, or install remote-access software, a program that lets someone else control your computer or phone from anywhere in the world.
How did the scam work?
Once a victim was engaged, a specialist team took over. Dedicated groups were trained to identify people with real money and a genuine interest in investing, then walked them through depositing funds onto sham brokerage sites.
Some victims were called a second time by the same network, this time by someone claiming they could help recover the money already lost. That recovery service was itself a scam.
Other operators sold products dressed up as medical treatments despite having no medicinal effect. A separate strand impersonated banks, telling people their accounts would be frozen unless they paid a fee or shared card details.
What did police seize?
The haul gives a sense of the operation's scale. Police recovered cash, gold, equipment and vehicles used to run the centres day to day.
| Item seized | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Fully equipped workstations | 1,794 |
| Computer equipment | 3,336 pieces |
| Phones | 1,346 |
| SIM cards | 5,200 |
| Cash | $2 million plus 64,000 euros |
| Gold (bars and jewellery) | 1 kilogram |
Officers also took access credentials for 20 cryptocurrency wallets, 90 bank cards and 22 vehicles.
Who has been charged?
26 people have been formally notified they are suspects. Charges fall under Parts 4 and 5 of Article 190 (fraud) and Part 3 of Article 209 (money laundering) of the Ukrainian Criminal Code, carrying sentences of up to 12 years in prison and confiscation of property.
Forensic teams are now working through the seized computers and phones to identify victims, calculate losses and, police hope, expose organisers along with money mules who moved the stolen funds.
Should ordinary people be worried?
Yes, but a few habits help. This style of scam, sometimes called vishing (voice phishing), relies on urgency and authority: a caller who sounds official insisting something bad will happen unless you act immediately.
If your bank calls about a suspicious transaction, hang up and dial the number on the back of your card. Never install software because a stranger on the phone asked you to. Real brokers don't cold-call people with guaranteed returns.
Anyone who's already lost money to an investment scam should be especially wary of follow-up calls promising recovery. That's very often the same criminals coming back for a second attempt. The forensic work now under way may eventually name victims, but it won't get anyone's money back quickly.
