Overview
- Authorities raided three Tirana call centers and nine homes on April 17, arresting 10 suspects in a Vienna-led case supported by Europol and Eurojust.
- Police seized €891,735 in cash along with 443 computers, 238 mobile phones, six laptops and multiple storage devices now undergoing forensic analysis.
- Victims were funneled from online ads to fake trading sites where “retention agents” posed as brokers, used remote-access tools and pushed for repeat deposits while the money was laundered.
- The network ran a follow-up “recovery” ploy that charged about €500 to retrieve losses, hitting some victims a second time.
- Europol says the operation resembled a real firm with up to 450 staff organized by language and role, and a probe launched in Vienna in June 2023 has identified victims in Italy, Germany, Greece, Spain, Canada and the UK.