Suspicious websites: Kapo Bern helped investigate cyber fraudsters

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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 have operated over a hundred suspected fraudulent websites.

The alleged perpetrators have set up an elaborate structure with shell companies and associated bank and cryptocurrency accounts, the Bernese Public Prosecutor’s Office for Special Tasks wrote in a statement on Tuesday. This is the so-called ‘Boiler Room Scam’.

In this type of online fraud, people are encouraged to invest through advertisements and 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 those affected to invest in securities or cryptocurrencies, with the promise of large returns within a short period of time. To date, these alleged frauds have resulted in financial losses running into the hundreds of millions across Europe, with tens of thousands of victims.

Research since 2019

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, confiscate them and systematically evaluate a total of more than 50 terabytes of data.

Based on this, information emerged that the alleged perpetrators operated a call center in Ukraine, whereupon the police of the Canton of Bern contacted the 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.

The war in Ukraine has delayed the investigation

Due to the war in Ukraine and because a call center later moved, the research had to be interrupted 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, arrests, seizure of additional 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.

The investigation is still ongoing, the statement said. It cannot currently be ruled out that the perpetrators are still active on a large scale.

Bern’s cantonal police and prosecutors 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. (SDA)

Source: Blick