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European law enforcement authorities arrested seven suspects and seized more than 100 servers in a joint action targeting an unnamed company suspected of providing fraudulent trading websites to criminal gangs.

Supported by Europol and Eurojust, this coordinated international action involved authorities from Albania, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Kosovo, and North Macedonia and followed four years of investigation and earlier interventions in 2022 and 2025.

The investigation began in 2022 after a German couple reported they couldn't withdraw money invested through an online trading platform, leading investigators to link multiple call center operators behind investment scams to potential victims in at least 50 countries.

"The action follows four years of investigation and earlier interventions in 2022 and 2025. Evidence gathered during those operations led to the company allegedly operating the 'crime-as-a-service' model from Cyprus and Israel. Investigators also identified suspected clients operating fraudulent call centres in Albania, Kosovo* and North Macedonia," Europol said.

The scheme promised potential victims substantial, quick returns from trading in foreign currencies, stocks, or cryptocurrency, using deceptive advertisements to direct them to fraudulent investment platforms and steal their personal data. They later sold this stolen data to criminal groups running call centers, whose operators reached out with supposed investment opportunities.

They encouraged victims to transfer a small amount and showed them fake online accounts with fictitious profits, making the platforms seem credible. These gains were used to sustain psychological pressure to push the victims into larger transfers. However, when they asked to withdraw the money, the scammers used delaying tactics and eventually stopped contact, leaving victims with no way to recover their funds.

"A first international action day that year resulted in two arrests and the seizure of evidence. Europol-supported analysis helped investigators develop the case, which identified seven additional suspects, including suspected call centre managers," Europol added.

This is the latest in a series of similar criminal rings dismantled by European law enforcement in recent years, including the March 2022 shutdown of a massive call-center investment fraud network that used 200 "traders" to steal at least €3 million each month.

Police also took down multiple call centers across Europe in 2023, linked to millions of euros in losses and run by a criminal gang behind online investment fraud (also known as 'pig butchering' or romance baiting scams). European police also shut down 12 fraud call centers in May 2024 that were linked to thousands of daily scam calls.

In July 2025, Spanish police dismantled another massive crypto investment fraud ring that laundered over €460 million($540 million) stolen from over 5,000 victims worldwide, one week after taking apart a large-scale investment scam operation behind cumulative damages exceeding €10 million ($11.8 million).

More recently, in April, Austrian and Albanian authorities also took down a criminal organization that ran a large-scale cryptocurrency investment fraud operation linked to estimated losses of over €50 million ($58.5 million).

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