Ukrainian cyberpolice arrested more "sucker hunters"

It was a real call center, but the employees did not offer legal investment products, and they extorted money to invest on a non-existent stock exchange. 50 people acted as an organized enterprise, but they were located and arrested by a special unit of the cyber police established in Ukraine in 2020. The second group operated in the boiler room.

The Ukrainian Department of Cyberpolice was established in 2020. From the beginning, it has been working closely with law enforcement authorities in other countries, as well as with Interpol and Europol. And it quickly turned out how much he was needed. From the beginning of its activity already smashed 10 hacking gangs, often international ones, who stole and extorted money and goods with a total value of over 300 million euros. 

As part of all cyberpolice operations, 326 people who had fraudulent accounts for over 26 were detained. people. Some of the money was also recovered. The victims of frauds and extortions have already received 190 million hryvnia (slightly over PLN 25 million).

Check it out: How to recover funds from a dishonest Forex broker [Guide]

Cyber ​​policemen also deal with pedophilia and can boast of successes in this field. Thanks to their investigations, 13 people were detained who created, copied and disseminated films for pedophiles on the Internet and created special websites where such content could be purchased. 47 children who were forced to participate in the recordings were also saved.

You can contact the cyber police via the free hotline. In the first 9 months of its launch, over 100 jobs have already been collected through it. submissions.

3 organizers, 50 cheats, 500 cheated

In recent weeks, investigators from Ukraine have noted further successes, which they just boasted. In the first week of February, two large air raids took place in Chernihiv and Kiev.

Three scammers ran into the Ukrainian capital, they extorted money, promising "certain" investments in the stock exchange. The scammers ran an entire network that resembled a well-organized enterprise. There were 50 people at their service who constantly made calls to potential victims. They managed to stretch 500 people before the group was liquidated. 

How did the fraudsters act? The method was the same as in many other countries - also in Poland. They called random people or a "purchased database" and offered them passive income in return for a transfer of a certain amount to be invested in the shares of dividend companies. As soon as they received their first transfer, the money was obviously gone. In Poland, this type of fraudster has been called colloquially "Nerd hunters".

Cyber ​​policemen searched their office in Kiev and found a lot of computer equipment, cell phones, transaction records and data carriers there. The organizers of the practice and their "employees" were also detained. Everyone is now facing a sentence of up to 12 years in prison and forfeiture of property - not only the property that comes from the crime.

The bank scammers from the boiler room

Almost at the same time, cyber policemen from Ukraine entered the boiler room in Czernichów. The officers had previously received information that another suspicious call-center was located there. Its very location suggested it, and after a short observation, anonymous information from neighbors was confirmed, who noticed suspiciously frequent and regular visits to the boiler room by young and above-average dressed people.

Source: cyberpolice.gov.ua

It turned out that scammers called from this place who had even more momentum. They cheated not only on the inhabitants of Ukraine, but also other countries. Although no information was disclosed whether there were also Polish citizens among them, we have reported more than once about fraud attempts and the eastern accent of touts nagging readers of the Forex Club.

Here, however, the pattern of operation was different. The interviewees claimed to be bank employees who discovered that their customers were being robbed by transferring money from their cards, mainly credit cards. They conducted the conversation so as to obtain as much data as possible, thanks to which they could make actual transfers.

The boiler room also had a lot of computer equipment in the form of several dozen desktops and laptops, as well as mobile phones, hundreds of SIM cards of mobile operators, and even ready-made and printed… fraud scenarios!