Bernese-Ukrainian-Georgian strike against cybercrime
Published: Tuesday, Nov 7th 2023, 17:40
Updated At: Wednesday, Nov 8th 2023, 00:54
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With the help of Ukrainian and Georgian law enforcement authorities, the Bern cantonal police have succeeded in identifying a group of suspected online investment fraudsters. They are said to be responsible for financial losses amounting to hundreds of millions across Europe.
There are tens of thousands of victims, the public prosecutor's office for special tasks of the canton of Bern announced on Tuesday. The perpetrators had acted professionally and set up an extensive structure with shell companies and associated bank and cryptocurrency accounts.
The group operates well over a hundred allegedly fraudulent websites in connection with online investments. It is a so-called "boiler room scam".
In this type of online fraud, people are encouraged to invest with the help of advertisements or attractive and professionally designed websites. Sometimes potential victims are also actively contacted by alleged financial or investment advisors, mainly by telephone or email.
For example, attempts are made to persuade interested parties to supposedly invest in securities or cryptocurrencies, promising high returns within a short period of time. The Bern cantonal police also write that investors are usually put off when they make enquiries about the payment of profits. In individual cases, smaller "winnings" were paid out in order to gain the trust of the victims.
Investigations since 2019
In this case, the investigation began in October 2019 following a criminal complaint in the canton of Bern. The victim had registered on a trading platform, whereupon an agent made telephone contact and was able to persuade the person concerned to make an initial deposit.
The agent then gained the trust of the victim and asked her to install a remote access tool on her computer.
Police specialists in Bern were subsequently able to pinpoint the locations of the computer systems used by the perpetrators, seize them and systematically analyze a total of more than 50 terabytes of data.
Based on this, there were indications that the alleged perpetrators operated a call center in Ukraine, whereupon the Bern Cantonal Police contacted the Ukrainian law enforcement authorities. In the course of the joint investigation, three other call centers in Ukraine were identified that presumably belonged to the same group.
Because of the war in Ukraine and because a call center later moved, the investigation had to be interrupted for a while.
House searches and arrests
After two further reports of online investment fraud were received by the Bern cantonal police in 2022, it emerged that the suspects were now operating from Georgia.
In the first half of 2023, various investigative measures then took place in both Ukraine and Georgia, including house searches, detentions, arrests, seizures of additional computer systems and actions in the identified call centers.
In addition, with the support of Europol and Eurojust, numerous bank accounts suspected of indirectly belonging to the identified suspects were frozen in various countries as part of a coordinated operation. Eurojust is the EU judicial authority.
The investigation is still ongoing, according to the press release. It cannot currently be ruled out that the perpetrators are still active on a large scale.
As a spokeswoman for the Bern cantonal police said on request, no person has been arrested in Switzerland in connection with this case. However, one person is being held in extradition custody abroad on the basis of a Swiss arrest warrant. Main legal proceedings are being sought against this person in Switzerland.
Bernese authorities warn
The Bern cantonal police and public prosecutor's office are warning against trusting "all kinds of 'online financial investments' that may appear reputable but are often suspected of being fraudulent." Particular caution is required if someone asks you to install remote access tools on your electronic devices after making contact.
©Keystone/SDA
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