Five individuals have been arrested for running an international scam network, according to Europol. The fraudsters lured victims with professional-looking banners on websites and promoted the schemes on social media. Targeted victims ranged from Germany to Israel and were mainly investors in high-risk financial instruments, such as binary options. The scam is believed to have cost at least 33,000 victims over €89 million.
The scam took place between 2019 and 2021, and arrests were made following searches conducted across 15 different locations in Bulgaria, Romania, and Israel. Simultaneous raids resulted in five illegal call centers being uncovered. In addition to suspects, luxury watches, electronic equipment, bank cards, Bitcoin, cash and numerous documents and data carriers were seized.
Dudi Katz, the Commander of the Cyber Unit in 'Lahav 433', the Israeli 'FBI' commented on the issue; “We did a joint investigation against several objects that operated, among other things, in Israel, and dispersed the call centers in Eastern Europe. Through them, they committed investor frauds.” He added that “The victims were mainly from Germany – thousands of them. We simultaneously made arrests here, in Bulgaria and Romania.”
The modus operandi of the fraudsters was for them to first encourage victims to make small investments ranging from €200-250 with fake profit graphics and software. With promises of higher returns on bigger investments, 'personal financial advisers' would then contact the investors and take their money with no success of recovering their high "investment".
Investing in binary options has become increasingly appealing due to low-interest rates during this period. These investments are susceptible to fraud and often provide guaranteed but risky financial transactions or theoretical asset pricing. Europol's statement explained that the perpetrators had been found to use this method to illegally obtain their money.
Israel has now completed the investigation into the scam and is awaiting a request from Germany to extradite the suspects. With such an extensive operation, the only silver lining was that €89 million has now been saved due to the collaborative efforts of Europol, Romania, Bulgaria and Israel Police.
Gabriel Gray
- 2023-05-04
International Investment Fraud Unveiled
Five individuals have been arrested after it was discovered they were running an international scam network costing victims over €89 million. The joint investigation of Europol, Romania, Bulgaria and Israel Police resulted in the uncovering of the fraud.
