Bavarian and Bulgarian investigators have dug a call center in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, from which investors on the Internet are said to have been cheated of millions of euros. Hundreds of people in German-speaking countries could have been robbed of their money by the fraudsters. Arrest warrants had been issued against four men, said the Central Cybercrime Bavaria (ZCB) in Bamberg.
According to the central office, the investors came into contact with the fraudsters via reputable and professional-looking websites. Alleged investments in cryptocurrencies, for example, were made palatable to them by phone and email. With falsified information, the fraudsters faked big profits.
“Find out what he’s scared of!”
The money of the betrayed was never invested, but instead flowed into the pockets of the perpetrators, according to the investigators. “One should find out what he is afraid of! One should build trust!” Such advice, written by hand on posters, for the “trading experts” in the fraudulent call center showed how systematically the perpetrators tried to convince their customers.
For various scenarios – for example that the potential investor stated that they had “no money” or “no time” – there were instructions for discussion, as photos of the investigators showed. In addition, there was a current ranking list of which perpetrators could steal how much money.
“It’s not about being nice and polite, it’s about taking money,” read a piece of paper on a monitor in English. Investors in German-speaking countries would have lost several million euros in this way. According to the investigators, about 50 victims are known in Bavaria.
A six-figure sum was stolen from a victim from the Ansbach district alone. According to this, there are likely to be a few hundred victims across Germany. According to the central office, 30 to 40 people were in the call center in Sofia at the time of access about two weeks ago. There were further investigations, it said.
The four suspected main actors arrested are to be extradited to Germany. Some of the scam websites are still accessible on the Internet. Efforts are being made to have them taken off the network, said a ZCB spokesman.
According to the current state of investigation, the group of perpetrators is responsible for the platforms alphafinancialgroup.com (offline), zurichfinancialgroup.co, genevacapitalgroup.com and promarketsgroup.com.
The ZCB repeatedly works with foreign authorities and has been involved in arrests in Kosovo, Belgrade and Ukraine in the past.