{"id":520683,"date":"2026-02-25T13:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T10:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reform.news\/?p=520683"},"modified":"2026-02-25T14:05:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T11:05:32","slug":"55-suspects-and-turnover-of-up-to-2-million-a-month-investigators-reveal-details-of-fraudulent-call-centre-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/55-suspects-and-turnover-of-up-to-2-million-a-month-investigators-reveal-details-of-fraudulent-call-centre-case","title":{"rendered":"55 Suspects and Turnover of up to $2 Million a Month. Investigators Reveal Details of Fraudulent Call Centre Case"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Fraudulent call centres dismantled in Minsk specialised in theft under the pretext of investing on the Forex market. They operated under the guise of telephone services or information and reference centres. Staff were recruited via job-search websites, trained, and tested using polygraphs. Representatives of the Interior Ministry and the Investigative Committee shared details of the operation at a press conference at the National Press Centre.<\/p>\n

A total of 55 people have been detained on suspicion of fraud, including 45 men and 10 women. Eight men and one woman are foreign nationals. Charges have already been brought against 18 individuals, 17 of whom have been placed in custody. A joint investigative team of 135 investigators is working on the case.<\/p>\n

According to Siarhei<\/strong>\u00a0Novik<\/b>, head of the Minsk department of the Interior Ministry\u2019s organised crime unit, operational information was received about the functioning of several fraudulent call centres in the capital. Two such centres were identified, one of which employed around 100 people.<\/p>\n

The criminal case was opened in December last year. Law enforcement officers raided the call centres on 17 February. Searches were carried out in four office premises and at the suspects\u2019 places of residence. At the time of the operation, 192 people were present at the \u201cworkplaces\u201d, while another 22 were detained at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe activities of these call centres were disguised as organisations providing telephone and information services. In addition to callers, the company\u2019s staff included employees of the primary department, the so-called sales department, and the secondary department (retention department), as well as technical and financial support staff, business trainers, HR specialists, managers, closers, polygraph examiners, and in-house security.<\/i><\/p>\n

Recruitment was carried out, among other places, on official platforms such as rabota.by and praca.by. Candidates were interviewed and then sent on two-week training courses. During or after these courses, candidates were subjected to polygraph testing. Employers were particularly interested in candidates\u2019 attitudes towards law enforcement agencies and the absence of moral principles. At the end of the courses, all candidates took exams.<\/i><\/p>\n

To protect against \u2018unwanted guests\u2019 \u2014 as the call centre members referred to police officers \u2014 panic buttons, or \u2018red buttons\u2019 as managers called them, were installed in the offices. Activating these buttons instantly cut power to all computers, blocked access to internal and external information resources, and disabled internet access,\u201d<\/i> Novik said.<\/p>\n

According to him, the thefts had been committed for several years under the pretext of Forex investments. More than 800 websites were created and promoted online via targeted advertising and other methods. The case materials contain information about 1,600 pseudonyms used by the fraudsters when communicating with victims.<\/p>\n

The initial \u201cclient\u201d deposit on such investment platforms was $500. These funds were immediately transferred to drop accounts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe initial amount of damage currently documented in the criminal case totals 290,000 Belarusian roubles. But I emphasise that this figure is preliminary and will increase significantly, by several times,\u201d<\/i> said Siarhei<\/strong> Hamko<\/b>, deputy head of the Investigative Committee\u2019s main digital development department.<\/p>\n

According to him, at this stage investigators have information indicating that the monthly turnover of a single centre could range from $600,000 to $2 million. Novik added that investigators are also checking information about the theft of $250,000 from a Belarusian woman. In total, data have been obtained on more than 1,000 victims from Belarus.<\/p>\n

The criminal group had created an extensive cover infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe perpetrators established and registered three business entities in the Republic of Belarus. Their main declared activities included advertising services, IT services, and information and reference services,\u201d<\/i> Hamko added.<\/p>\n

He noted that most of the suspects are cooperating with the investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should also be noted that during operational activities at one of the call centres, 97 individuals were identified and detained. They were also questioned about the circumstances of the activities. At the time of the operation, they were present in the call centre premises and were effectively performing their unlawful duties,\u201d<\/i> he said.<\/p>\n

Novik \u0443\u0442\u043e\u0447\u043d\u0438\u043b that 20 employees of this centre were detained on suspicion of committing crimes.<\/p>\n

A total of 78 searches were conducted, during which 601 devices \u2014 computer equipment and data storage media \u2014 were seized, along with funds totalling more than 790,000 Belarusian roubles. Eleven vehicles and 47 business accounts used by the criminals were also seized, with more than $1 million blocked on those accounts.<\/p>\n

Hamko also disclosed salary levels at the call centres.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs already mentioned, salaries amounted to $500 in the primary department. In the fraudulent department that continued persuading citizens to invest, salaries were $500 higher, starting from $1,000. However, many detainees have already stated during investigative actions that they received between $3,000 and $4,000 in cash. The manager of two call centre offices in Minsk earned $5,000,\u201d<\/i> he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fraudulent call centres dismantled in Minsk specialised in theft under the pretext of investing on the Forex market. They operated under the guise of telephone services or information and reference centres. Staff were recruited via job-search websites, trained, and tested using polygraphs. Representatives of the Interior Ministry and the Investigative Committee shared details of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sharing_image":{"poster":"https:\/\/reform.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/699ed780bf7e0.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"template":"691142dd","mode":"auto"},"_sharing_image_fieldset":{"dTVKfmI95PYT":"55 Suspects and Turnover of up to $2 Million a Month. Investigators Reveal Details of Fraudulent Call Centre Case"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[142339,142338],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-520683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-main","category-news"],"wps_subtitle":"","permalink_manager":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520683\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}