An international network of online investment fraud has been hit by authorities in several states, in an operation supported by Eurojust and Europol, where seven people have been arrested and more than 100 servers seized.
Among the countries where the operation has been held is Kosovo, where authorities have raided 17 locations in general, including a call centre.
According to the Eurojust announcement, released on Tuesday, November 3rd, suspects were part of an international fraud scheme, through which victims were lured to invest large sums of money on online platforms that seemed legitimate.
The losses caused by this scheme are estimated to be over fourm euros.
The frauds promised the victims great profits in a short time, through investments in krypovaluta, foreign currency and shares.
At first, victims transferred small amounts of money, while inflated profits were shown to their respective platforms in order to create the impression that investments were successful.
Next, those represented as investment mediators exerted psychological pressure on victims to invest even larger sums. When they demanded withdrawal of money and profits, the suspects used different tactics to delay the process until they eventually disappeared with money.
The investigation started in 2022 after a German couple filed complaints, reporting that they could not withdraw invested money and profits presented on the online platform.
After more than four years of investigation, authorities identified a company based in Cyprus and Israel, which allegedly offered criminal services through the ʹcrime-as-a-Serb model. This company allegedly supplied various criminal groups with fraudulent websites used for realising online fraud schemes.
In Albania, Kosovo and Northern Macedonia, meanwhile, suspected clients of this company, believed to be operating call centres for investment fraud.
The seven persons arrested during the last operation are expected to surrender or extradite to Germany.
The authorities of Germany, Cyprus, Finland, Albania, Israel, Kosovo and North Macedonia are involved in the action.
In Kosovo, the operation was carried out by the Special Prosecutor and the Kosovo Police, the Directorate for Investigation of Economic Crimes and Corruption, respectively.
Source Layer: Dukeagini
