In collaboration with the National Police, cyber teams of the Security Service have dismantled a large-scale fraud scheme that stole money from cryptocurrency wallets of EU citizens.

Following a series of operations in Kyiv, a complex network of crypto fraudsters comprising several dozen individuals was exposed and dismantled. They defrauded people of money under the guise of investments on crypto exchanges using social engineering, psychological manipulation and cyber technologies.

According to the investigation, these illegal activities generated a monthly turnover of funds of up to USD 1 million during peak periods.

The law enforcement agencies have documented the offences committed by all participants in the scheme, including the organiser – a 25-year-old IT specialist from Kyiv.

He recruited IT specialists from the capital to join the scheme, and they posed as representatives of cryptocurrency platforms to offer clients supposedly lucrative opportunities to invest in digital assets.

To find victims, the fraudsters circulated messages about ‘profitable’ crypto projects on popular Telegram channels.

To create the appearance of successful investment activity, they showed clients fictitious trading results and examples of alleged profits.

Once contact had been established, victims were sent a link to a fake website that mimicked a legitimate cryptocurrency service.

On this website, users were persuaded to link their virtual wallets and confirm the proposed transaction.

In reality, the website contained specially designed malicious code, known as a ‘drainer’. Once the transaction was confirmed, this code enabled the fraudsters to make unauthorised withdrawals of digital assets from the victims’ crypto wallets to online addresses under their control.

In this way, the participants in the scheme effectively ‘emptied’ their victims’ crypto wallets.

During the search of 23 of the suspects’ offices and homes, mobile phones and computer equipment containing evidence of the scheme were seized. Cash, believed to have been obtained through criminal activity, and 16 luxury cars, including models from Porsche, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, were also found.

The decision to name suspects in the case is pending.

The investigation is ongoing. The perpetrators face up to 12 years’ imprisonment and confiscation of their property.

The operation was carried out under the procedural supervision of the Office of the Prosecutor General.