International Operation in 10 States for Fraud Through Call Center, Four Albanians Arrested

The November 8th and 9th event, which has been carried out between authorities in Albania, Northern Macedonia, Bulgaria, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Latvia, Sweden, Spain and Ukraine, has destroyed a criminal group.

So said at a joint conference between the Special Structure Against Organised Crime and Corruption (SPAK) and the Spanish Police on November 10th.

Five people -- from four in Albania and one in Georgia -- have been arrested in this action. Six Albanian citizens have been declared in the search.

According to SPAK leader Arben Kraja, six Call Center and five different locations residences -- Tirana, Vlora and Elbasan -- have been checked. According to him, there were different locations or appointments from these centers, and they carried out ventures of business to flee the law enforcement bodies.

About 600 computer devices, laptops, Usb, and cryptovaluta portfolios have been seized in the value of about $15,000 and $9,000 cash.

How were European investors misled?

This group used dozens of Call Center and hundreds of computer platforms to commit online fraud by stealing income through cryptovalut.

The suspects were presented as mediators to help investors earn large sums of money with small investments. In fact, they deceived investors and managed to create some Call Center.

By doing so, fraud only deepened, as investors believed and were encouraged to increase their investments in platforms controlled by this group, resulting in millions of euros in losses for them.

The damage caused, according to the SPAK, is estimated at 50m euros every three months.

For this operation, investigations in Albania were launched in early 2020.

For the operation, which was coded as “Frida-Refox” , E UROJUS (The European Union for Co-operation in Criminal Justice Agency) established a special co-ordination centre for quick co-operation of authorities who were part of the operation. / REL