“Boiler Room Scam”: How Swiss Investigators Caught Dangerous Cybercriminals

With the help of Ukrainian and Georgian law enforcement authorities, the Bern Cantonal Police has managed to identify a group of suspected online investment fraudsters. It is said to be responsible for financial damages amounting to hundreds of millions across Europe.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office for special tasks in the canton of Bern announced on Tuesday that there have been tens of thousands of victims. The perpetrators acted professionally and set up an extensive scheme with shell companies and associated bank and cryptocurrency accounts.

Here you will discover the most important things.

How does the “Boiler Room Scam” work?

The group operates more than a hundred suspected fraudulent websites related to online investments. This is the so-called ‘Boiler Room Scam’.

This type of online fraud would encourage people to invest in advertisements or attractive and professionally designed websites. Sometimes potential victims are actively contacted by alleged financial or investment advisors, mainly by telephone or email.

Efforts are being made to convince interested parties to make so-called investments in securities or cryptocurrencies, with the promise of large returns within a short period of time.

The cantonal police of Bern also write that investors are usually stopped if they have questions about the payment of their profits. In individual cases, smaller “profits” were paid out to gain the trust of the victims.

The National Center for Cybersecurity, the NCSC, warned about so-called advance payment fraud in its recently published half-yearly report.

How was it determined?

In the present case, the investigation began in October 2019 following a criminal complaint in the Canton of Bern. The victim had registered on a trading platform, after which an agent contacted him by telephone and persuaded the person concerned to make a first deposit.

As a result, the agent gained the victim’s trust and asked him or her to install a remote access tool on their computer.

Specialists from the Bernese police subsequently managed to locate the locations of the computer systems used by the perpetrators, seized them and systematically evaluated a total of more than 50 terabytes (TB) of data.

They were created on this basis Evidence that the alleged perpetrators operated a call center in Ukraine, whereupon the Bern Cantonal Police contacted Ukrainian law enforcement authorities. In the course of the joint investigation, three other call centers in Ukraine believed to belong to the same group were identified.

What does this have to do with the war in Ukraine?

Due to the war in Ukraine and because a call center involved in the fraud later moved, the investigation had to be paused for a while.

After two more reports of online investment fraud were received by the Bern cantonal police in 2022, it became clear that the suspects were now operating from Georgia.

In the first half of 2023, various investigative measures took place in both Ukraine and Georgia, including searches, detentions, arrests, seizures of other computer systems and actions in the identified call centers.

Furthermore, with the support of Europol and Eurojust, numerous bank accounts indirectly belonging to the identified alleged perpetrators were blocked during a coordinated operation in several countries. Eurojust is the judicial authority of the EU.

Has the danger been averted?

No.

The investigation is still ongoing, the statement said. 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 upon request, no one has been arrested in Switzerland in connection with the case. However, a person is in custody abroad for extradition on the basis of a Swiss arrest warrant. Main legal proceedings are underway against this person in Switzerland.

How can you protect yourself?

Bern’s cantonal police and public prosecutor’s office warn against trusting “online financial investments of any kind that appear serious but are often suspected of being fraudulent.” Particular caution should be taken if, after contacting someone, he asks to install remote access tools on the electronic devices.

In an advisory article published on its own website, the Cantonal Police of Bern advises:

For further advice, see Resources.

Sources

(dsc/sda)