Authorities dismantle a cross-border crypto fraud network in Europe

• The cross-border fraud network used call centres to defraud victims.
• The network operated in Germany, Serbia, Cyprus, and Bulgaria.
• 15 people connected to the network have been arrested so far.

After the raid on Nexo’s offices in Bulgaria, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation and Europol has arrested 15 people allegedly connected to a crypto cross-border fraud network. 14 people were arrested in Serbia while the fifteenth person was nabbed in Germany.

The Bulgarian authorities have however said that the raid of Nexo’s offices is not connected to the crypto fraud network arrests.

The fraudsters reportedly used call centres from Serbia to defraud international victims and had until their arrest defrauded victims tens of millions of euros. The search leading to the arrest of the fraudsters was started back in 2021 and involved Europol and the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation.

Assets seized in the arrests

According to reports, during the arrests, the law enforcement agencies seized 150 computers, two luxury apartments, three cars, $1 million worth of cryptocurrencies, and 50,000 in euros. The victims of the fraudsters are mainly in Austria, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, and Canada.

The authorities have however said that the arrests are “almost the tip of the iceberg” since they found “high volumes of financial transactions.”

The authority’s announcement said that the group:

“Operated the call centres from Serbia and used a technological infrastructure in Bulgaria to run the scheme and allegedly, Cyprus was the base for laundering the illegal proceedings.”