National Police of Ukraine takes down cyber crime group

[Dave1]

According to this report, the The National Police of Ukraine (NPU) takes down a cyber crime group that targets victims of crypto fraud and appearance that they are going to be help by this people. Take note that this is group is like a call center, they phone their potential victims and then they spoof the phone numbers of Banks so it look genuine outside.

And then they will ask those people to send money in account where the groups have control of. And so obviously, there will be no "commissions"s for this victims, except that it's a double whammy for them.

Investigators of the Main Investigative Department of the National Police of Ukraine together with the SBU blocked a criminal scheme of misappropriation of funds of citizens of Ukraine and European Union countries under the guise of exchange trading in cryptocurrency, securities, gold and oil.

For the operation of the cross-border fraudulent mechanism of misappropriation of funds, the organizers used high-tech equipment and software, which allows to change the phone numbers of the attackers to the numbers of state banking institutions.

In addition, the members of the group, using the contact databases of foreign citizens, against whom similar fraudulent actions were previously committed, on behalf of the so-called "Community of cryptocurrency brokers" offered victims to return the stolen cryptocurrency for a "commission".

After receiving consent to return the lost money, people were sent details for transferring the "commission" to the accounts of the participants in the criminal scheme. After receiving the funds, communication with the "brokers" was interrupted and payments were not made.

https://www.npu.gov.ua/news/kiberzlochini/naczpolicziya-vikrila-merezhu-call-czentriv-figuranti-speczializuvalisya-na-finansovix-aferax/

[electronicash]

while there is a war going on in their country, these cyber group are also busy victimizing. just amazing.  

it didn't say how long this call center been operating, i can imagine they operate for years by the number of employees laying down. Just arm these crime group, recruit these guys to fight Russians in Donetsk.

[Kemarit]

while there is a war going on in their country, these cyber group are also busy victimizing. just amazing.  

it didn't say how long this call center been operating, i can imagine they operate for years by the number of employees laying down. Just arm these crime group, recruit these guys to fight Russians in Donetsk.

Probably just part of a smaller group of cyber criminals in Europe targeting everyone from cryptocurrencies to oil and gold people. I guess it is the proverbial "all is fair in love and war".

And it's the typical call center that we known of, maybe they are 24x7 on rotation and their family thinks that they have a regular job. Yeah, instead of putting them on jail, bring them in the front line and fight for their motherland like the rest of the Ukrainians.

[YOSHIE]

I've read about the perpetrators of fraud on June 29 yesterday, which a fraud group did to Ukrainian citizens, as stated below.

The announcement does not mention how users ended up on the phishing sites, but it could be via spam email, SEO poisoning, direct messages, or scam posts on social media platforms.

Ukraine arrests cybercrime gang operating over 400 phishing sites.

They already operate 400 phishing sites, which they do, with various modes that trap their citizens, I hope the cyberpolice or related parties in dealing with the problem of fraud in cyberspace in ukraine, will be given severe punishment for them.

[SFR10]

Take note that this is group is like a call center, they phone their potential victims and then they spoof the phone numbers of Banks so it look genuine outside.

And then they will ask those people to send money in account where the groups have control of. And so obviously, there will be no "commissions"s for this victims, except that it's a double whammy for them.

Even if we take everything into account ^{[e.g. spoofing part]}, I still don't get why a lot of people "still" fall for such obvious scams!
^{- If they're already in possession of the recovered funds, then there's no reason for them to ask for more when they can easily deduct their own fees from the recovered funds!}

while there is a war going on in their country, these cyber group are also busy victimizing.
~Snipped~
Just arm these crime group, recruit these guys to fight Russians in Donetsk.

Yeah, instead of putting them on jail, bring them in the front line and fight for their motherland like the rest of the Ukrainians.

I strongly believe that's the equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot.

I've read about the perpetrators of fraud on June 29 yesterday, which a fraud group did to Ukrainian citizens, as stated below.

Based on its content, this one seems to be a different case ^{[unfortunately]}.

I hope the cyberpolice or related parties in dealing with the problem of fraud in cyberspace in ukraine, will be given severe punishment for them.

Same here, but looks like it's up to 15 years of jail time at most ^{[IMO that's not enough]}.

[avikz]

Crypto educated people were really falling for such scams? Are you serious?? It's a shame really! Secondly it's a even bigger shame while an active war is ongoing with Russia and people are already in stress.

But one thing is really serious here! How on earth these miscreants are getting the phine number of people who had lost cryptocurrency at some point of time. Probably from a hacked exchange? It's important to identify the source of information.

[jackg]

while there is a war going on in their country, these cyber group are also busy victimizing.
~Snipped~
Just arm these crime group, recruit these guys to fight Russians in Donetsk.

Yeah, instead of putting them on jail, bring them in the front line and fight for their motherland like the rest of the Ukrainians.

I strongly believe that's the equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot.

Potentially shooting everyone near you in the foot too .

Yeah it's why most strong militaries rely on voluntary recruitment only (someone conscripted might end up sabotaging you or just reducing the moral of you're squad) - you can see all the tanks/surface to air missile launchers being seized from Russians to work out what happens when you send people to war who don't want to be there.

But one thing is really serious here! How on earth these miscreants are getting the phine number of people who had lost cryptocurrency at some point of time. Probably from a hacked exchange? It's important to identify the source of information.

It is! And perhaps there's more to this. Maybe the ones conducting the scam bought information from scammers or maybe they were able to get it from crypto exchanges selling data and social engineer the people they called.

[Poker Player]

Well, I think the cryptocurrency issue here is not as important as that they are scammers, who could have scammed even if there were no cryptocurrencies involved.

Investigators of the Main Investigative Department of the National Police of Ukraine together with the SBU blocked a criminal scheme of misappropriation of funds of citizens of Ukraine and European Union countries under the guise of exchange trading in cryptocurrency, securities, gold and oil.

Another thing is that some media like to emphasize cryptocurrencies when there is a scam in the same way that when someone drinks a whole bottle of whiskey and takes two puffs of a joint, if he has a traffic accident or commits a crime, they emphasize the fact that he had consumed marijuana and the fact that he drank a whole bottle of whiskey does not appear in the headline.

[Dave1]

while there is a war going on in their country, these cyber group are also busy victimizing. just amazing.  

Just really ironic that they would rather continue with their criminals activities despite what is going on with their country. Maybe this Ukrainians doesn't care what is happening on their homeland, for them money is important specially in this times as they need to feed their family. But I guess money can't buy anything if their country is still in war-torn.

it didn't say how long this call center been operating, i can imagine they operate for years by the number of employees laying down. Just arm these crime group, recruit these guys to fight Russians in Donetsk.

Let's say they have been operating prior to the war because it looks like it is very organized. The setup and everything is professional. So they may be running this for years maybe.

[Gozie51]

while there is a war going on in their country, these cyber group are also busy victimizing. just amazing.  

The bad element in society operate more where there is chaos and unrest because people don't want help and won't have time to settle for skeptism. It is not the first to happen all over countries where there are problem and political tension. But particularly about Ukraine during the start of the war, many new accounts springed up on the forum soliciting and appealing for coins just maybe many of them where not genuine need seekers.

it didn't say how long this call center been operating, i can imagine they operate for years by the number of employees laying down. Just arm these crime group, recruit these guys to fight Russians in Donetsk.

These syndicates may not only be ukrainians I think so.

[bocyaj]

Ukraine was already in the war time situation,some scammmers using it as the opportunity to get into the cyber crime.The National police of Ukraine made a good move to bring down the cyber crime activities in the state.It was welcome one by all the Nation.Every county should follow this.

[Zlantann]

Ukraine was already in the war time situation,some scammmers using it as the opportunity to get into the cyber crime.The National police of Ukraine made a good move to bring down the cyber crime activities in the state.It was welcome one by all the Nation.Every county should follow this.

The rise in criminal activities is one of the offshoots of most wartorn countries. We should expect an increase in cybercrime in Ukraine. The war has destroyed the economy of the nation and many people are now unemployed. The government is now spending so much more on protecting lives and property than the welfare of the citizens. In order to survive in a country that has few opportunities, crime is the closest option for many.
But it is quite amazing that the in the face of chaos and uncertainties the Ukrainian cyberpolice is still effective.

It is very disheartening to see these unpatriotic Ukrainian robbing people that are going through a lot of pain and suffering. It is possible they might have scammed people that have lost loved ones because of the war, thereby causing them more anguish and heartbreak.  

[Baofeng]

Ukraine was already in the war time situation,some scammmers using it as the opportunity to get into the cyber crime.The National police of Ukraine made a good move to bring down the cyber crime activities in the state.It was welcome one by all the Nation.Every county should follow this.

However, Ukraine has been in the cyber criminals 'industry' way before there was a war between them and the Russian. Not defending them, but it seems it become a regular job for some of them that they don't care if there is a war behind them.

They will continue to do it war or peace time because that how they make money. Fortunately, there police is not resting as well during war and congratulations for them for busting this criminals groups. But I believed that there are still some inside the country that they have to dismantle.

[hZti]

Ukraine was already in the war time situation,some scammmers using it as the opportunity to get into the cyber crime.The National police of Ukraine made a good move to bring down the cyber crime activities in the state.It was welcome one by all the Nation.Every county should follow this.

However, Ukraine has been in the cyber criminals 'industry' way before there was a war between them and the Russian. Not defending them, but it seems it become a regular job for some of them that they don't care if there is a war behind them.

They will continue to do it war or peace time because that how they make money. Fortunately, there police is not resting as well during war and congratulations for them for busting this criminals groups. But I believed that there are still some inside the country that they have to dismantle.

Well some of these groups are funded by russia and some of them are funded by the western union. This is in many cases part of hybrid war and not actually a criminal group that wants to make money for themselves. They attack targets that are provided for them and then they operate on the money that they can sometimes get out of it.

[Bushdark]

Probably just part of a smaller group of cyber criminals in Europe targeting everyone from cryptocurrencies to oil and gold people. I guess it is the proverbial "all is fair in love and war".

This is the kind of ground that was responsible for the godfather malware that had been gaining control of many victims' crypto wallet and bank account. This is a serious group that are need to be prosecuted to prevent any further damages to people.

And it's the typical call center that we known of, maybe they are 24x7 on rotation and their family thinks that they have a regular job. Yeah, instead of putting them on jail, bring them in the front line and fight for their motherland like the rest of the Ukrainians.

That is what I expected from the Ukrainian government. They can be a tool to fight against the invading Russia attempt to dominate the entire country by force. This people, well they are scammers that had been causing havoc to different individuals but the government can areesy them and give them partial freedom to explore there knowledge in other expect of war strategic fight.

Tye American government are very good in this kind of strategic approaching into in apprehending other scammers through unveiling there methods and how to go around doing what they know best.

[uneng]

Even if we take everything into account ^{[e.g. spoofing part]}, I still don't get why a lot of people "still" fall for such obvious scams!
^{- If they're already in possession of the recovered funds, then there's no reason for them to ask for more when they can easily deduct their own fees from the recovered funds!}

Probably because the phone calls are made from official banks' numbers.

Here in my country similar scams happen, but not involving cryptocurrencies and not involving the comission requirement.

Instead, scammers tell the victim they are the manager of his bank's agency and that his banking account was hacked, therefore they need their debit/credit card and every personal details to revert the transactions made by hackers and retrieve the money.

So they send a motorcycle messager to the victim's address (in the name of the bank), and tell the person to give him the card inside an envelope, addressed to the local police officer.

Target victims are usually elders, and they really trust the bank is trying to help them, since the call comes from an official number, as we can check on Google.

I don't know if scammers use top tier technology or if the schemes happen with the participation of banks' employees, though.