Scam call centres are a blight on the lives of anyone unfortunate enough to have any dealings with them. They come to you with promises of a short cut to wealth, to fix a non-existent issue with your computer, claiming to be from a charity, threatening you with arrest for unpaid taxes.

There are 70 million of these phone calls worldwide every day and they generate billions of dollars each year. Organized crime is very much a part of this industry from Mexico to India and from the Philippines to Ukraine.

In this episode we delve into the hundreds, possibly thousands of scam call centres based in Ukraine, where investment scams are mainly targeting Russians.

Links:

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

PORT IN A STORM: Organized crime in Odesa since the Russian invasion

New front lines: Organized criminal economies in Ukraine in 2022

Global Organized Crime Index

Additional Reading:  

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/katie-investigates/father-attempted-suicide-crypto-fraudsters-tricked-144k/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-36108762

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-22/ukraine-s-economy-grows-year-on-year-first-time-since-war-began

https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2023/03/30/western-lenders-may-regret-forcing-ukraine-to-turn-to-the-imf

https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/latvia-and-lithuania-detain-108-over-multi-million-euro-call-centre-scam

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20100609/midtown-west-hells-kitchen/fbi-raids-suspected-mafia-boiler-rooms-midtown/

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6928696

https://www.occrp.org/en/fraud-factory/trail-of-broken-lives-leads-to-kyiv-call-center

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-65038949

https://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/fraudfactory/

https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/bulgarian-authorities-take-down-online-investment-scam-responsible-for-losses-of-more-eur-10-million

https://www.epravda.com.ua/publications/2023/03/24/698383/

https://twitter.com/i/status/1606340479196479488

https://www.businessinsider.com/russians-scammed-torching-kremlin-offices-cars-2023-4?r=US&IR=T

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66440752

https://t.me/mashmoyka/11725

https://www.businessinsider.com/russians-scammed-torching-kremlin-offices-cars-2023-4?r=US&IR=T

https://t.me/url_mash/4742

https://www.businessinsider.com/russians-scammed-torching-kremlin-offices-cars-2023-4?r=US&IR=T

https://www.interfax-russia.ru/moscow/main/fsb-preduprezhdaet-moskvichey-o-moshennikah-sklonyayushchih-k-perevodu-deneg-i-podzhogam

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66440752

https://t.me/rabota_vakansii_dnepr0/10

https://lawrange.net/en/services/lawyer-for-fraud-in-ukraine-under-article-190-of-the-criminal-code-of-ukraine/

https://ruscrime.com/breaking-through-potential-victims-conversation-scenarios-and-tricks-of-telephone-crooks-from-ukrainian-call-centers/

https://crime-ua.com/node/30638

https://en.fromheartua.charity/ua/stats

https://incident.obozrevatel.com/crime/organizator-narkosindikata-pri-podderzhke-fsb-razvernulsya-v-ukraine-on-v-rozyiske-no-rulit-iz-za-granitsyi.htm

https://censor.net/ru/news/3434694/sluga_naroda_seminskiyi_otritsaet_prichastnost_k_rossiyiskomu_kolltsentru_posle_obvineniyi_tischenko

https://lb.ua/news/2023/08/01/568007_tishchenko_zayaviv_pro_vikrittya.html

https://denzadnem.com.ua/aktualno/139009

https://incident.obozrevatel.com/crime/organizator-narkosindikata-pri-podderzhke-fsb-razvernulsya-v-ukraine-on-v-rozyiske-no-rulit-iz-za-granitsyi.htm

https://antikor.com.ua/ru/articles/650654-rossijskij_narkobaron_meksikanets_podminaet_pod_sebja_rynok_moshennicheskih_kol-tsentrov

https://regionews.ua/rus/news/ukraine/1693672865-tayny-meksikanskogo-ekspressa-smi-rasskazali-zachem-egor-levchenko-na-samom-dele-lovit-baryg

https://antikor.com.ua/ru/articles/650654-rossijskij_narkobaron_meksikanets_podminaet_pod_sebja_rynok_moshennicheskih_kol-tsentrov

https://incident.obozrevatel.com/crime/organizator-narkosindikata-pri-podderzhke-fsb-razvernulsya-v-ukraine-on-v-rozyiske-no-rulit-iz-za-granitsyi.htm

https://lb.ua/news/2023/08/01/568007_tishchenko_zayaviv_pro_vikrittya.html

https://regionews.ua/rus/news/ukraine/1693672865-tayny-meksikanskogo-ekspressa-smi-rasskazali-zachem-egor-levchenko-na-samom-dele-lovit-baryg

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/17182-spanish-police-arrest-key-figure-in-scam-brokerage-linked-to-fraud-factory-investigation

https://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2023/08/21/7416432/

https://gp.gov.ua/ua/posts/na-dnipropetrovshhini-vikrito-diyalnist-saxraiskix-sall-centriv-yaki-osukali-gromadyan-derzav-jevropeiskogo-soyuzu

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/The-Big-Story/Cyber-slavery-inside-Cambodia-s-online-scam-gangs

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/06/07/mexican-drug-cartel-eight-dead-scam-call-centre/

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/02/world/americas/remains-mexico-call-center.html

https://ruscrime.com/breaking-through-potential-victims-conversation-scenarios-and-tricks-of-telephone-crooks-from-ukrainian-call-centers/

https://www-cyberpolice-gov-ua.translate.goog/news/kiberpoliczejski-prypynyly-diyalnist-shaxrajskyx-sall-czentriv-u-trox-oblastyax-ukrayiny-3573/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en

https://cybernews.com/news/ukraine-police-bust-digital-fraud/

https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/ukraine-cracks-down-on-investment-scams-raids-call-centers-a-22386

https://cyberpolice.gov.ua/news/kiberpolicziya-kyyeva-vykryla-sxemu-psevdoinvestuvannya-organizatory-yakoyi-pryvlasnyly-ponad--mln-grn-7606/

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ukrainian-police-bust-phishing/

https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/ukrainian-police-disrupt-cryptocurrency-scam-aimed-at-canada-a-22341

https://www.hiya.com/global-call-threat-report

https://www.truecaller.com/blog/insights/us-spam-scam-report-21

https://t.me/joker_ukr/8398

https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252525373/Most-hackers-exfiltrate-data-within-five-hours-of-gaining-access

https://hyperms.com/the-new-generation-of-gsm-gateway-sim-bank/

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/man-arrested-for-illegally-procuring-and-selling-22-000-sim-cards-to-cyber-criminals-in-india-delhi-police-busts-pan-india-scam-101681928317089.html

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2271839/illegal-sim-cards-integral-to-scams

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga/pr/multiple-india-based-call-centers-and-their-directors-indicted-perpetuating-phone-scams

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-65038949

https://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/fraudfactory/

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-16/china-crackdown-scam-epidemic-australia/102850120

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2023/apr/02/i-couldnt-escape-the-people-trafficked-into-call-centres-and-forced-to-scam-australians

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-china-watcher/2022/08/25/the-china-scam-calls-just-wont-die-00052537

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/17030-cross-border-cybercrime-raid-nabs-scam-call-centers-exposed-by-occrp

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/over-200-spike-in-fake-friend-call-scam-reports-in-2022-victims-lost-88-million

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2023/apr/02/i-couldnt-escape-the-people-trafficked-into-call-centres-and-forced-to-scam-australians

https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-05-30/marijuana-blood-and-phone-scams-new-clues-in-the-case-of-seven-workers-who-disappeared-from-a-mexican-call-center.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-36108762

https://www.pymnts.com/news/security-and-risk/2022/italian-and-albanian-authorities-break-up-crypto-scam-ring/

https://www.firstpost.com/tech/news-analysis/indian-scam-call-centres-looted-over-10-billion-in-11-months-from-us-senior-citizens-this-year-11896001.html