Изображение: Следственный комитет
The activities of fraudulent call centres have been stopped in Minsk. The Investigative Committee reported that, together with the Main Directorate for Combating Organised Crime and Corruption of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a number of individuals linked to an international organised criminal group were detained.
According to investigators, the suspects created more than 800 fake websites that lured people with promises of high returns on investments. The financial companies in which victims were encouraged to invest did not exist. The websites collected citizens’ personal data. Subsequently, so-called “financial specialists” contacted them and persuaded them to transfer money to fictitious accounts. Successful trading was simulated, prompting clients to deposit increasingly larger sums.
Law enforcement agencies said further details of the case would be presented today at a press conference.
The teaser video also shows excerpts from testimonies of two detainees.
“The company was engaged in providing brokerage services. We understood in advance that these were not brokerage services. We knew for a fact that the company was deceiving people. On the company’s side, we worked through an application that allowed calls to other numbers. Accordingly, the people we called could not call back. One-way communication,” one young man said.
In the second case, an entire dialogue is shown:
— How long have you been working?
— About three years.
— When did you start to realise that clients’ money was not being returned?
— Around the fifth or sixth month.
— So you were aware that the funds invested by citizens were not being returned, yet you continued your activities?
— Yes.
— Why did you continue?
— It was financially profitable.
The footage also suggests that polygraph tests may have been used in the call centres to screen employees.