Kameleon007
Authorities in Italy and Albania dismantled an alleged cryptocurrency-linked investment fraud that saw estimated losses of EUR 15M ($16M), Eurojust, a member of the European Union responsible for judicial cooperation in criminal matters, detailed in a recent release.
During the action, assets worth EUR 3M were seized from the organized crime group that operated from a call center in Tirana, Albania.
"The suspects allegedly contacted victims by telephone using unidentifiable virtual numbers and delocalised virtual private networks (VPNs)," according to Eurojust. "They asked the victims to create an account on a portal and, once the transfer had been made, reset the newly created account, embezzled the sum received and made themselves untraceable."
The scammers gained the trust of the victims by enabling them to make a quick buck using a small initial investment, the release said. The victims were contacted by alleged "brokers" that offered "zero risk" crypto investments.
Also, the perpetrators gained access to the victims' online banking using remote control software and "convinced them to invest their entire economic capital." Once the deposits were made, the victims' got locked out of their own accounts.
Crypto frauds, despite increased regulatory scrutiny and crackdowns on illicit activities, have not shown any signs of slowing. Just last month, two Estonians were charged over allegedly running a $575M crypto fraud. In the U.K., crypto fraud jumped by one-third to over $270M over the course of one year.