MOSCOW, April 26 In Moscow, the activities of fraudulent call centers operating in the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were stopped, the FSB department reported.
«The Federal Security Service of Russia for the city of Moscow and the Moscow Region, together with the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the city of Moscow, suppressed the illegal activities of fraudsters who organized call centers in the city of Moscow, whose employees carried out the theft of funds of Russian and foreign citizens on an especially large scale,» the department said. .
Posing as employees of Russian law enforcement agencies and employees of financial institutions, the attackers tricked citizens into transferring money to their bank cards. The money received was cashed out at ATMs in various regions of Russia and delivered by couriers to exchange offices, where it was converted into cryptocurrency and transferred through anonymous crypto wallets to recipient accounts in Ukraine.
pressure on the victims in order to bring them out of a state of psychological balance and induce them to commit high-profile crimes against public safety on the territory of the Moscow region,» the ministry added.
The UFSB called a distinctive feature of these call centers specialization in crimes against people living abroad, mainly in Germany, Spain and France.
Against the detainees opened a criminal case under part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of Russia «Fraud». The circumstances of the crimes and the persons involved are now being established.
In turn, the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Irina Volk, said that more than 20 people had been detained. They were taken to the police.
«According to preliminary estimates, the total damage exceeds 15 million rubles,» she specified.
The FSB urged citizens to be attentive to all calls that contain demands to make financial operations.