TL;DR Breakdown
- The Turkish police have arrested 18 Chinese men running in fake crypto call centers.
- More than $200,000 were seized during the raid.
As the cryptocurrency market keeps gaining mainstream attention, cyber-criminals still persist with their fraudulent tactics to defraud unsuspecting investors in the digital currency space. Yet, they mostly end up in police custody, as with the report today.
According to Daily Sabah, the law enforcement authorities in Turkey have arrested a group of Chinese nationals who were allegedly running fake crypto call centers in the country.
Turkish police bust fake crypto call centers
The Turkish police arrested about 18 Chinese nationals who were reportedly behind the fake call centers. They had rented about nine separate villas in Istanbul’s Silivri and Büyükçekmece districts to swindle funds from unsuspecting crypto investors in China through their fake crypto call centers. The police, meanwhile, learned about the fraudulent activity after two persons – Hongwu Z. (29) and Kang W. (28) – who worked at the fake centers opened up to them.
Hongwu and Kang narrated that they initially came to Turkey amid a job posting in the financial sector. However, they were forced to offer fake cryptocurrencies to swindle money from people in China after being hired to work at the fake crypto call center. According to the police, the Chinese gang also forced some other foreigners who visited Turkey to work on their fraudulent scheme. These included tech experts and computer engineers.
Over $200,000 in cash seized
The Turkish police confiscated about 712 mobile phones, 32 identity cards, driver’s licenses, residency permits, 64 desktop computers, bank cards, 48 laptops, and some other items used by the Chinese gang. They also seized about $238, 1.6 million Turkish Lira ($216,223), 23,792 yuan ($3,655), 4,020 Filipino pesos ($82.90), and 50 euros ($59.77).
