In a joint operation conducted by the Ukrainian authorities and Kazakhstan police, a fraudulent call center has been shut down that looted the money of thousands of citizens.
The perpetrators called Kazakhstan citizens portrayed as bank employees and asked for their financial information to revert fraudulent transactions happening in their accounts. When shared, they used this data to empty their bank accounts, or apply for quick loans or buy cryptocurrencies.
Call Center to Loot Money
As per a new press note from the Cyber ​​Police Department of the National Police, 37 people working in a fake call center in Ukraine have been arrested this week for looting people’s money in Kazakhstan.
This is the result of a joint operation from Ukraine’s Cyber Police Department, the Main Investigative Department of the National Police, the Prosecutor General’s Office, and law enforcement officers in Kazakhstan.
Together, they contacted the citizens of Kazakhstan impersonating local bank employees and warned them of a fake cybersecurity incident that happened with their bank account! Saying that this account had been breached by a hacker, the perpetrators asked the targets to share their financial information to revert fraudulent transactions happening in their bank accounts.
And when done, they empty the bank accounts by transferring funds to offshore accounts held by them, buying cryptocurrencies, or applying for quick loans. To date, over 18,000 citizens have been defrauded, with the exact amount involved in this yet to be known.
As the investigation is ongoing, the police have seized 45 pieces of computer equipment, mobile phones, SIM cards, and draft records. Further, they have also found databases containing the PII of Kazakhstan citizens – which the fraudsters had used to operate on.
