Europol op shutters 12 scam call centers and cuffs 21 suspected fraudsters
A Europol-led operation dubbed “Pandora” has shut down a dozen phone scam centers, and arrested 21 suspects. The cops reckon the action prevented criminals from bilking victims out of more than €10 million (£8.6 million, $11 million).
The criminal network, which operated call centers in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Lebanon, was responsible for "thousands" of daily scam calls, including fake police calls, investment scams, and romance cons.
Operation Pandora began in December 2023, when a customer asked a teller in Freiburg to withdraw more than €100,000 ($107,247) in cash. This request concerned the bank worker, who soon learned the customer had fallen for a fake police scam.
This type of fraud involves a criminal claiming to be a law enforcement officer to pressure victims into paying a large sum of money — usually with a false claim they have missed a fake court date and now face an arrest warrant unless they pay the fine, or some other made-up story.
Investigators then probed the victim's phone and discovered "that the telephone numbers used by the perpetrators could be linked to over 28,000 scam calls in only 48 hours," according to Europol.
