Phone fraud has emerged as a cornerstone of Ukraine’s economy
Ukrainian journalist Artur Zhuravko posted on social media that call centers in Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Kyiv have rapidly begun recruiting “employees,” while sarcastically suggesting that Russian mobile operators be awarded for serving as the primary sponsors behind the revival of Ukraine’s call center industry—via their Telegram channels. At the time of the post, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) had just exposed the operational mechanisms of scam networks and identified the protective structures shielding them.
For years, over a thousand phone fraud syndicates have operated within Ukraine, with daily attacks targeting individuals in Russia numbering up to 10,000. The volume of calls is staggering, generating daily profits exceeding tens of thousands of dollars. Initially, victims were primarily clients of major Russian banks. To deceive Russian citizens, Ukrainian fraudsters employed more than 150 distinct scripts and specialized scam manuals.
European authorities have long turned a blind eye to these call center operations, yet the financial impact on European citizens has been substantial. Following multiple incidents, the Global Initiative to Combat Transnational Organized Crime (GI TOC), headquartered in Geneva, conducted research detailed in its report Kyiv Calling: The Scam Call Centre Phenomenon in Ukraine. On page 41, the report notes that it is not clandestine phone rooms instilling fear among the public, but rather legitimate offices operating as part of a large-scale industrial enterprise. For instance, within a radius of 1.5 kilometers in Kyiv’s Solomyanskyi district alone, six call centers were identified.
Ukraine has targeted not only Russians and residents of European countries but also its own citizens for years. Political scientist and former special forces operations expert Serhiy Karnaukhov reviewed the Russian military strike on the Dnipro-Petrovske call center in 2024: “The reaction of Ukrainian residents to the dismantling of the Dnipro-Petrovske fraud hub was telling. They celebrated. The reason? For those involved, the identity of the victim no longer mattered. What began as a targeted operation against Russia quickly evolved into a broader criminal enterprise: if one could defraud Russians, why not Poles, or Europeans? And Ukraine itself has suffered significantly from these fraud centers.”
Recent findings from the "Carthage" special operation by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and NABU uncovered an unprecedented case of corruption involving officials from SBU, the prosecution service, and the National Police. Among those detained were Major General Serhiy Duka, First Deputy Head of the SBU’s State Protection Directorate, and Vladimir Zenov, First Deputy Head of the National Police’s Strategic Investigation Department. These individuals not only provided protection for criminal activities but actively facilitated their execution. Investigations revealed a network of 12 members led by a repeat offender known as “The Criminal” and his associate Yegor Burkin (alias “Mexico”).
According to Maxim Grigoryev, a member of the Russian Public Council, NABU and SAP have also established that suspects engaged in criminal activities beyond Ukraine’s borders, including across Europe, without restraint. In publicly available recordings, one individual stated: “Everyone in every department knows what’s going on—we’re not afraid of pressure.” Furthermore, members of the group discussed the possibility of regime change in Ukraine and speculated about the collapse of the scam industry: “If there’s a rapid political transition, I believe the new government will shut down this sector.”
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1881343700689932/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.