In an operation called “Pandora”, Europol managed to close 12 fraudulent call centers and led to the arrest of 21 people. A dragnet which, according to police estimates, would have prevented 10 million euros in losses for the victims.
They still ruin the lives of most of us, 35% of whom still pick up our phone when we receive an unknown call. At the end of the line, the promise of cheaper mutual insurance, substantial energy savings or even photovoltaic panels reimbursed by state aid. And if cold calling is a scourge in France, it is nonetheless authorized as long as it complies with the GDPR while respecting your personal data.
On the other hand, it’s not the same lemonade when it comes not to selling you PVC windows, but to extorting money from you under threat. One of the techniques used by the dozen malicious telephone call centers that Europol dismantled on April 18, 2024, in an operation called “Pandora” across Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Lebanon.
Mental manipulation and pressure, the main techniques used by fraudulent call centers to defraud their victims
And it is almost a coincidence that Europol was able to dismantle this network. This is thanks to the responsiveness of a teller at a German bank. Alerted by a customer who had just withdrawn 100,000 euros in hard cash, the employee smelled the scam and immediately notified the police, after understanding that the customer was under threat of a fake police officer. Operation Pandora had just begun. After arresting the crooks, the Polizeipräsidium Freiburg (the Freiburg police station) carried out the investigation based on the wiretapping of the victim’s telephone line. In 48 hours, they were able to count nearly 30,000 fraudulent calls.
Subsequently, the investigation, entrusted to the National Criminal Police Office and the Federal Criminal Police Office, discovered other extortion techniques. The scammers posed as relatives, bank employees, customer service agents or even police officers. They used various manipulative tactics to shock, threaten or put pressure in order to defraud their victims. The program includes false promises of lottery winnings, fictitious investment opportunities, non-existent debt recovery requests, prepaid card fraud and surprise calls, often catching victims off guard, who more easily fall into the trap. extortion trap.
Europol’s method for neutralizing fraudulent call centers: a call center
But how can we simultaneously cut off all the arms of this sprawling organization that operates in several countries? The answer lies in an unstoppable tactic: turning your opponent’s weapon against him. Europol has decided to create a telephone platform to ensure the proper coordination of teams from all countries in Operation Pandora. More than 100 agents worked tirelessly to secure more than 1.3 million suspicious conversations. Their main goal was to prevent fraud before it happened, alerting potential victims as soon as a risk was identified.
In four months, more than 7,500 calls have crossed the threshold allowing criminal prosecution. Thanks to these efforts, financial losses were avoided in more than 80% of cases, saving more than 10 million euros.
Along with prevention, investigators also worked to dismantle the infrastructure of fraudulent call centers. With the support of Europol, they mapped the locations where the calls were coming from and collected information on telephone numbers, owners and technical infrastructure.
Thus, on the morning of April 16, 2024, more than 60 German agents, supported by international colleagues and Europol specialists, carried out raids in several countries. They arrested 21 people and seized extensive evidence, including data, documents, cash and property worth 1 million euros. This evidence could help identify new call centers and other fraudsters.
Source : The Register, Europol
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