Russian Intelligence Dismantles Massive International Investment Scam Targeting Over 100,000 Victims Worldwide.
In a major crackdown on transnational fraud, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has raided and shut down a network of call centers involved in a sprawling investment scam that targeted over 100,000 victims across 50 countries, including a significant number of Indians.
According to the FSB, the coordinated operation was carried out against an “international organized crime ring engaged in a massive fraud” that generated an estimated $1 million in illicit revenues per day.
Dramatic footage released by the intelligence agency showed masked FSB agents storming a business center and apprehending several suspects believed to be part of the criminal syndicate.
The FSB stated that the call centers were allegedly operated by former Georgian Defense Minister Dimitri Kazerashvili, who is currently based in London. The agency also detained Israeli-Ukrainian citizen Keselman Ya D, while another alleged mastermind, Israeli-Georgian national Todva D, remains at large.
Notably, the FSB claimed that the call center operatives had received instructions from Ukraine’s SBU security service in 2022 to disseminate fake terror threats in several Russian cities at the height of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Indian investors were among the primary targets of the sprawling fraud scheme, which involved luring unsuspecting individuals with the promise of lucrative investment opportunities. The scammers would then systematically siphon off the hard-earned money of their victims.
The dismantling of this international criminal network is a significant victory for Russian law enforcement, as it aims to safeguard citizens, including those in India, from falling prey to such sophisticated financial fraud schemes.
The scale and brazenness of the operation underscore the growing challenge posed by transnational organized crime syndicates in the digital age.
