As part of an international multi-stage special operation, Ukrainian police officers, together with foreign colleagues, exposed a criminal group that defrauded Latvian citizens of over UAH 6 million by offering to invest in cryptocurrency through fake brokerage platforms.
The attackers have been operating since 2022, organizing a fraudulent scheme under the guise of cryptocurrency investments. To do this, they created fake brokerage platforms that visually resembled legal trading sites. They organized work with potential victims through an extensive network of call centers in Ukraine.
It was found that the perpetrators actively advertised their pseudo-investment services via social networks and used social engineering methods to target potential clients, promising huge profits. At the same time, the fraudsters persuaded victims to install remote access software that gave them control over the victims' devices and access to their financial data.
To legalize illegally obtained funds, the group members registered as individual entrepreneurs and received payments allegedly for services in the field of computer programming.
Currently, National Police investigators have established that the total amount of losses suffered by the victims exceeds UAH 6 million in equivalent.
Ukrainian cyber police, together with foreign colleagues, documented the illegal activities of the criminal group, collected digital evidence, and tracked the movement of virtual assets from the victims' wallets to the final recipients, etc.
Law enforcement officers, with the force support of the TacTeam special units of the Patrol Police Department, conducted more than 30 searches in several regions of Ukraine at the places of illegal activity, residences of the suspects, vehicles, etc. Computer equipment, server equipment, crypto wallets, mobile phones, draft notes, bank cards, flash drives, as well as luxury cars purchased with stolen funds were seized. The court imposed an arrest on the seized valuables.
The organizer and three executors were notified of suspicion under Part 4 of Article 190 (Fraud) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in the version in force until August 11.08.2023, 12. The sanction of the article provides for up to XNUMX years of imprisonment. At the request of the investigators, the court chose preventive measures in the form of detention and XNUMX-hour house arrest for the suspects.
The pre-trial investigation is ongoing, all persons involved in the illegal activity are being identified. Additional legal qualifications are possible.
The case is being investigated by operatives of the Cyber Police Department together with investigators of the Main Investigation Department with the support of the Department of International Police Cooperation under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor General's Office in cooperation with Latvian law enforcement officers and with the coordination of Europol and Eurojust.
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