Ukrainian and Kazakh police bust intl fraudulent call center in Bukovyna - National Police

Ukrainian and Kazakh law enforcement officers have dismantled an international fraudulent call center, the National Police of Ukraine reports.

"The perpetrators posed as employees of law enforcement agencies and banking institutions of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Under the pretext of possible problems with law enforcement agencies and criminal prosecution, they extorted money from citizens. According to preliminary data, the defendants defrauded residents of Kazakhstan of more than UAH 70 million," the department's website said in a statement on Thursday.

Law enforcement officers found out that the criminal organization was created by a 29-year-old resident of Chernivtsi and a 40-year-old Russian. Its members "specialized" in extorting money from citizens. The call center had its own hierarchy, and roles were clearly distributed between the participants. The administrator's duties included: monitoring and training office employees, HR was engaged in recruiting and financial issues, "coolers" called potential victims, and at the stage of misunderstandings with the "client" a "closer" was connected - a more experienced employee who had to convince the interlocutor to agree to their terms.

The fraudsters communicated on behalf of employees of law enforcement agencies and banking institutions of the Republic of Kazakhstan. During the video call, they used deepfake technology, as well as uniforms. They forced people to make payments under the pretext of allegedly possible problems with law enforcement officers and further criminal prosecution.

"The money obtained through criminal means, the dealers spent on the further functioning of the call center, the purchase of cars, etc. Every month, the maintenance of the "office" cost its organizers UAH 2.5 million, and one of them, in the last six months alone, purchased five cars," the report states.

Law enforcement officers detained the organizers and participants of the criminal organization. They seized computer equipment, work instructions, correspondence in messengers, records of crypto wallets, bank cards, uniforms of law enforcement officers of the Republic of Kazakhstan, etc.

Within the framework of the criminal proceedings, suspicion was reported to six persons: the organizer, co-organizer and four perpetrators. They are charged with 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). The sanctions of the articles provide for up to twelve years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.

Currently, all suspects have been selected as preventive measures in the form of detention.