Two weeks after Europol announced the arrest of five suspects for running a huge international fraud network, Israel has completed the investigation in its territory and is awaiting an official request from Germany to extradite the suspects. The main “headquarters” of the network was located in Israel, while the “executive arm” was based in Romania and Bulgaria. The scam has so far cost at least 33,000 victims an estimated €89 million.
Bust a huge investment scam
Europol and its counterparts arrested five individuals last month in connection with an investigation into fraudulent online investment platforms, including binary options, which operated between 2019 and 2021. , and Israel. In addition, the police raided five illegal call centers during a two-day cross-border operation.
Dodi Katz, Commander of the Cyber Security Unit of the Israel Police
said Dodi Katz, commander of the cybersecurity unit at “Lahav 433,” the Israeli FBI. finance poles: “We carried out a joint investigation against many things that operate, among other things, in Israel, and we dispersed call centers in Eastern Europe. Through them, they committed fraud on investors.”
Katz added that: “The victims are mainly Germans – thousands of them. At the same time we made arrests here, in Bulgaria and Romania.”
Law enforcement agencies did not name any fraudulent platforms, but the schemes defrauded at least 33,000 victims. The estimated loss was at least €15m last year during the initial campaign, but it turned out to be €89m, according to the latest figures.
Aside from the arrests, law enforcement seized several “high-value assets” during the operations. They include luxury watches, electronic equipment, bank cards, bitcoins, cash, and many documents and data vectors.
Bigger investment, better return
Europol’s official statement explained that the scammers lured investors by using professional-looking banners on websites and promoting the schemes on social media. They operated from call centers in various European countries.
At first, the scammers encouraged victims to make a small investment of €200-250, showing graphics and programs of fake earnings. Then, so-called personal financial advisors approached these investors with promises of higher returns on more significant investments. Europol noted that, in fact, “these higher investments were subsequently lost, and the illicit profits were paid into the perpetrators’ bank accounts.”
“Due to the low interest rates during this period, investors have been attracted to investing in high-risk financial instruments, such as binary options,” Europol explained. “These are often vulnerable to fraud and are therefore used in Internet scams. Such options have, in most cases, fixed amounts of money, acting as collateral for risky financial transactions or theoretical asset pricing.”
FCA on whistleblowers; Equinix’s first-quarter results; Read today’s news snippets here.
Two weeks after Europol announced the arrest of five suspects for running a huge international fraud network, Israel has completed the investigation in its territory and is awaiting an official request from Germany to extradite the suspects. The main “headquarters” of the network was located in Israel, while the “executive arm” was based in Romania and Bulgaria. The scam has so far cost at least 33,000 victims an estimated €89 million.
Bust a huge investment scam
Europol and its counterparts arrested five individuals last month in connection with an investigation into fraudulent online investment platforms, including binary options, which operated between 2019 and 2021. , and Israel. In addition, the police raided five illegal call centers during a two-day cross-border operation.
Dodi Katz, Commander of the Cyber Security Unit of the Israel Police
said Dodi Katz, commander of the cybersecurity unit at “Lahav 433,” the Israeli FBI. finance poles: “We carried out a joint investigation against many things that operate, among other things, in Israel, and we dispersed call centers in Eastern Europe. Through them, they committed fraud on investors.”
Katz added that: “The victims are mainly Germans – thousands of them. At the same time we made arrests here, in Bulgaria and Romania.”
Law enforcement agencies did not name any fraudulent platforms, but the schemes defrauded at least 33,000 victims. The estimated loss was at least €15m last year during the initial campaign, but it turned out to be €89m, according to the latest figures.
Aside from the arrests, law enforcement seized several “high-value assets” during the operations. They include luxury watches, electronic equipment, bank cards, bitcoins, cash, and many documents and data vectors.
Bigger investment, better return
Europol’s official statement explained that the scammers lured investors by using professional-looking banners on websites and promoting the schemes on social media. They operated from call centers in various European countries.
At first, the scammers encouraged victims to make a small investment of €200-250, showing graphics and programs of fake earnings. Then, so-called personal financial advisors approached these investors with promises of higher returns on more significant investments. Europol noted that, in fact, “these higher investments were subsequently lost, and the illicit profits were paid into the perpetrators’ bank accounts.”
“Due to the low interest rates during this period, investors have been attracted to investing in high-risk financial instruments, such as binary options,” Europol explained. “These are often vulnerable to fraud and are therefore used in Internet scams. Such options have, in most cases, fixed amounts of money, acting as collateral for risky financial transactions or theoretical asset pricing.”
FCA on whistleblowers; Equinix’s first-quarter results; Read today’s news snippets here.
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