Cyber police in Ukraine continue the country’s internal struggle against digital fraudsters with another bust. This one has called time on an 800-strong operation suspected of stealing data and persuading victims to ‘invest’ in bogus cryptocurrency schemes.
“Fraudsters called citizens under the guise of security service employees of banks and mobile operators,” said the Cyber Police of Ukraine. “Offenders learned card details and codes from SMS messages to embezzle money [from victims].”
The crime swoop shut down “fraudulent call centers” in the cities of Lviv, Odesa, Dnipro, and Kryvyi Rih after police conducted more than a dozen searches. About 900 units of digital equipment were also seized during the operation, along with mobile phones, SIM cards, hard drives, and documents.
Police say more than 800 people worked illegally across the call centers, devising social engineering ‘scripts’ to dupe victims before contacting them.
“Operators were trained to use manipulative techniques aimed at instilling trust,” said police. “The attackers equipped the offices with electronic computing equipment and telephony.”
Ukrainian citizens were also lured with offers “to invest funds in cryptocurrency” and “extremely high profits from investments in various areas of the economy.”
Police say four criminal cases have been opened in relation to the incident, and work is underway to identify further ringleaders.
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