Ukraine dismantles crypto scam network that stole €4.3 million

Sergiu Gatlan

November 9, 2026
07:16 AM
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Ukrainian law enforcement arrested four suspects in a case involving the theft of more than €4.3 million using a network of cryptocurrency investment scam call centers.

In these fraud schemes (also known as romance baiting or pig butchering scams), criminals lure targets through social media, dating sites, and messaging apps into fake investment schemes, stealing their money instead of investing the funds as promised.

The investigation involved Ukraine's Cyber Police Department, the Main Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine, and German law enforcement authorities.

According to Ukraine's Cyber Police, the suspects used phone calls and messaging apps to build victims' trust through social engineering and trick them into investing in cryptocurrency, shares, and other financial instruments through fraudulent online trading platforms.

The crime ring targeted potential victims across the European Union, stealing more than €4.3 million from 135 German victims.

"They assisted victims in opening accounts on cryptocurrency exchanges, purchasing digital assets and transferring them to accounts controlled by the criminal organisation. In some cases, the suspects also gained access to victims' online banking accounts," the Ukrainian Cyber Police said.

"The proceeds of crime were subsequently moved through bank accounts, cryptocurrency exchanges and transit wallets, converted and distributed among members of the criminal organisation."

After two rounds of searches in August and September in the Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, Ukrainian police detained four members of the investment scam ring, including the leader and three accomplices.

During the searches, law enforcement officers also seized over $90,000, nearly 600,000 Ukrainian Hryvnia (roughly $13,000), hardware cryptocurrency wallets, mobile phones, SIM cards, computer equipment, and other evidence.

The four suspects are now held in pre-trial detention and face up to 12 years in prison if found guilty of charges related to fraud and the creation, leadership of, and participation in a criminal organization.

This action comes after European law enforcement authorities dismantled, in December, another fraud network operating call centers in Ukraine that scammed Europeans out of more than 10 million euros.

More recently, in August, Ukrainian authorities also shut down 94 fraudulent call centers that tricked people into investment scams or tried to access their bank accounts.