Ukrainian law enforcement officers extradited 5 members of an international criminal organization to the Czech Republic

[CarderPlanet]

Criminals organized "call centers" in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro and deceived from there more than 665 Czech citizens for more than 7 million 609 thousand euros, which is equivalent to 300 million 733 thousand UAH.

Now investigators and employees of the Department of Combating Drug Crime of the National Police under the escort of the National Guard of Ukraine handed over five fraudsters to representatives of law enforcement agencies of the Czech Republic at the international checkpoint "Krakovets" in the Lviv region. The sixth attacker will be extradited in the near future.

More than 100 Ukrainian and Czech police officers were involved in the investigation of this case, working under the procedural management of the Prosecutor General's Office and with the support of Europol and Eurojust as part of the JIT The Joint Investigation Team.

JIT, an agreement on the creation of a joint investigation team concluded between Ukrainian and Czech law enforcement officers, helped law enforcement officers to quickly stop the criminal activities of an international organized criminal group.

Recall that during the pre-trial investigation, the police identified two organizers of this "call center" - citizens of Ukraine and the Czech Republic, who attracted more than 20 people to work in the criminal organization.

During calls, the scammers used spoofing technology, that is, replacing the phone number with any desired one. Posing as employees of the security service of a banking institution, the scammers informed victims that their bank account had been hacked, and for the safety of funds, they needed to temporarily transfer them to another "safe" account provided by the criminals.

The accuracy of this information was confirmed by another call - allegedly from a police officer, who confirmed the authenticity of hacking the account and the need to transfer money to another account.

As part of the searches that took place in Dnipro in April 2023, investigators detained Czech citizens, who were handed over to Czech law enforcement officers for further pre-trial investigation on September 25, 2023.

Currently, the Czech competent authorities are investigating a criminal case against them on the fact of fraud under Part 1, Part 5. a) of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of the Czech Republic, for which the defendants face from 5 to 10 years in prison.

In relation to other defendants, the National Police investigators are investigating criminal proceedings under Part 4 of Article 190 (Fraud committed on a particularly large scale) and Part 1, Part 2 of Article 255 (Creation, leadership of a criminal community or criminal organization, as well as participation in it). Criminal Code of Ukraine, for which the defendants face from 7 to 12 years in prison.

• Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7AeBXkZMqw

 

[CarderPlanet]

Robbed EU citizens: a large-scale fraudulent "call center"was closed in Ukraine

The attackers organized phishing "call centers" in the capital and deceived dozens of foreigners for almost 2 million Czech crowns, which is the equivalent of almost 3 million UAH. As a result of the international special operation, three organizers and five active participants were detained.

Within the framework of international cooperation, the cyber police of Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, Kiev police investigators under the procedural guidance of the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office and together with colleagues from the National Agency for Combating Terrorism, Extremism and Cybercrime of the Czech Republic Police stopped the activities of the criminal organization. The hard work of law enforcement officers of the two countries gave a positive result: first, they identified three organizers of the criminal "scheme".

The investigation found that the dodgers involved more than 40 people in illegal activities in different regions of Ukraine. At the same time, each of the members of the organization had a clearly defined list of responsibilities. The so-called "coders", i.e. specialists in writing computer programs, created, updated, maintained and improved the work of telegram bots and phishing resources, as well as ensured the anonymity of accomplices on the Internet, provided advice on disguising criminal activities.

Call center operators found their potential victims on Czech Internet trading platforms. With the introduction of social engineering methods and pre-developed "communication scenarios", scammers convinced their interlocutors to click on phishing links to pay for goods or services.

After people entered payment data, the information became known to the defendants. Members of the group, the so-called "weavers", withdrew money from the owners ' accounts to controlled bank cards or converted them into cryptocurrency with the help of "coders".

In the future, the organizer was engaged in the distribution of appropriated funds, some of which he spent on ensuring the functioning of "call centers".

Law enforcement officers, with the support of the special purpose police regiment, conducted 29 searches on the territory of Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Ternopil, Poltava and Chernihiv regions. As a result, almost 60 laptops, computer equipment, dozens of mobile phones, 75 thousand US dollars, bank and SIM cards, 6 cars and work records were seized.

Kyiv police investigators are investigating criminal proceedings under Part 1 and 2 of Article 255 (Creation, leadership of a criminal community or criminal organization, as well as participation in it) and Part 4 and 5 of Article 190 (Fraud). The Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Three organizers and five performers were detained in accordance with Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine and informed of suspicion. The issue of choosing preventive measures for the suspect is being resolved. The suspects face up to twelve years in prison with confiscation of property.

Investigative actions are continuing to announce suspicion to other members of the criminal organization.

• Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG8BCPg53Pc

 

[Brother]

Ukrainian law enforcement officers, within the framework of international cooperation within the framework of the work of the joint investigative group JIT “Victory” with law enforcement agencies of the Czech Republic, conducted the second stage of a large-scale special operation to detain participants in a criminal organization.

Based on the results of two stages of the special operation under the procedural leadership of the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office, 4 organizers and 13 executors were informed of suspicion of participation in a criminal organization, fraud and unauthorized interference in the operation of electronic communication networks, Part 1, Part 2 of Art. 255, part 4 art. 28, part 4, part 5 art. 190, part 4 art. 28 Part 2 Article 361 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

According to the investigation, the criminal organization has been operating in Kyiv since May 2022. Its participants created a network of phishing call centers and deceived more than 20 Czech citizens out of 1.5 million crowns, which is equivalent to more than 2 million UAH.

The attackers chose their victims on Czech online trading platforms.

In order to scale criminal activity and conspiracy, the organizers attracted participants from the most numerous lower level - “workers” - through a closed Telegram channel.

The so-called “workers” corresponded with sellers of various goods. Subsequently, having agreed on the terms of purchase and sale, they convinced their interlocutors to click on phishing links that imitate pages of online services to pay for goods or services.

Having received their bank card information from the victims, the suspects transferred funds to bank accounts controlled by the organizers.

In September 2023, the first stage of the special operation took place. As part of international cooperation under the procedural leadership of the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office, cyber police of Kyiv and Dnepropetrovsk region, Kyiv police investigators, together with colleagues from the National Agency for Combating Terrorism, Extremism and Cybercrime of the Police of the Czech Republic, stopped the activities of the criminal group.

Law enforcement officers conducted 29 searches, seized evidence of illegal activities, in particular computer equipment and mobile phones, and detained three organizers and five perpetrators of crimes. They were informed of suspicion under Part 1, Part 2 of Art. 255, part 4 art. 28, part 4, part 5 art. 190, part 4 art. 28 hours 2 tbsp. 361 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and preventive measures were chosen in the form of detention and house arrest.

Thanks to the analysis of information contained in the seized equipment, investigators identified another organizer of the “scheme” and eight of his accomplices.

On January 17, 2024, law enforcement officers conducted the second stage of the special operation, during which 12 searches were carried out in premises belonging to the defendants in the territory of Kyiv and the Dnepropetrovsk region. Mobile phones, bank cards, computer equipment, rough notes and other material evidence indicating criminal activity were seized. Another one of the organizers and eight performers was detained in accordance with Art. 208 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine. The issue of choosing a preventive measure in the form of detention is being decided.

In addition, members of this criminal organization detained in September 2023 were informed of a new suspicion under Part 1, Part 2 of Art. 255, part 4 art. 28, part 4, part 5 art. 190, part 4 art. 28 hours 2 tbsp. 361 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The sanction of the articles provides for up to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.

The investigation is ongoing.

The pre-trial investigation is carried out by the investigative department of the State Police in Kiev with operational support from the Cyber Police Department of the National Police of Ukraine and the assistance of the National Agency for Combating Terrorism, Extremism and Cybercrime of the Police of the Czech Republic.

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