The criminals lured investors through reputable-looking websites and promised profits – but the money flowed into their own pockets. The fraudsters even kept a ranking list among themselves.
Bamberg / Sofia – German and Bulgarian investigators have dug a call center in Sofia, from which investors on the Internet are said to have been cheated for millions of euros.
Hundreds of people in German-speaking countries could have been robbed of their money by the fraudsters in the Bulgarian capital. Arrest warrants had been issued against four men, said the Central Cybercrime Bavaria (ZCB) in Bamberg.
According to the central office, the investors came into contact with the fraudsters via reputable and professional-looking websites. Alleged investments in cryptocurrencies, for example, were made palatable to them by phone and email. With falsified information, the fraudsters faked prospective buyers big profits. The money was never invested, but instead flowed into the pockets of the perpetrators, according to the investigators.
90 victims in Bavaria alone
Posters and boards with advice on fraud for the “trading experts” in the call center showed how systematically the perpetrators tried to convince their customers. In addition, there was a ranking of which perpetrators could steal how much money.
Investors in German-speaking countries would have lost several million euros in this way. According to the investigators, around 50 victims are known in Bavaria alone.
According to the central office, 30 to 40 people were in the call center at the time of access about two weeks ago. The four suspected main actors arrested are to be extradited to Germany.
Some of the scam websites are still accessible on the Internet. Efforts are being made to have them taken off the network, said a ZCB spokesman. dpa
