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- Network action: how millions were stolen from citizens of 20 countries through call centers in Moscow
Network action: how millions were stolen from citizens of 20 countries through call centers in Moscow
Employees of Moscow call centers, who were detained by the FSB representatives on December 11, "divorced" clients according to a premeditated scheme, "Izvestia" found out after studying the fraudsters' manuals seized during the searches. They detail the algorithms of calls, their frequency and statuses, which the attackers used to mark the stages of communication with clients and the ways of their "processing". In addition, the fraudsters competed - they strived to become the "best team" that earned the most money at the end of the month. Operatives believe that the supervisor of the call-centers is a drug trafficker, the head of the Khimprom organized crime group, Egor Burkin, who is hiding from the investigation abroad. How worked an international network of fraudsters, which affected tens of thousands of people - in the material "Izvestia".
How the FSB detained the fraudsters
Managers and employees of call-centers, who deceived tens of thousands of people, detained by law enforcement officers, reported December 11, TSOS FSB. Three Moscow offices were part of an international network of fraudsters and were controlled by the wanted leader of the organized crime group "Khimprom" Yegor Burkin, the agency said. The money was stolen under the guise of investment activities.
According to preliminary estimates, the victims were citizens of more than 20 countries - England, Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, Korea, Poland, Serbia, Turkey, France, France, Japan and others. The damage from illegal activities is estimated in tens of millions of US dollars, operatives said.
A criminal case on fraud on a particularly large scale has been opened. At the home addresses of the detainees and in the offices were searched, seized computers and means of communication, including SIM-cards.
"Operative-search activities and investigative actions continue," the FSB said.
How call-centers"divorcing" foreignersworked
Thecall-center, which the FSB task force broke into on December 11, looks like the office of a serious IT-company , it follows from the published operational video. The detainees include both men and women, many of whom look like foreigners. Some computers and desks are decorated with cute stuffed toys. Everything is just like in a normal office, including coffee cups.
According to the documents seized in the office, the work of the call-center employees was well planned, they used their algorithms for "promotion" of clients. Thus, in the seized records, one of the first points of the scheme is "identifying a need", followed by "presentation", "handling objections" and, finally, "closing the deal".
In order to persuade the client to make a "deal", the employees of the center had to conduct an "interview" with him, "give him a chance to freely express ideas and proposals". After each call, the staff would put certain marks, or "statuses" - against each customer number - in the shared database. For example, "new," "call back," "did not answer."
"For hot traffic, the curators recommend calling the same client every three hours. The never answer status can only be given to a client "if you have called him nine times in the last three days and he has not answered once." "A customer with whom there has been any communication, including on WhatsApp, cannot be in this status," the script says.
The methodology for scammers is written in a business style and contains a lot of practical advice, and the work itself is well thought out and systematized. In the seized documents , all employees of the call-center (and there are dozens of them) are designated as sales-manager, and next to their names and surnames is the language in which they speak. Among them are English, French, Turkish, Kazakh.
The call center also had its own corporate incentives, it follows from the published video. For example, on one of the computers there is a table in which at the end of the month marked the "best team" that earned more than the rest. The amounts of achievements - from $124 thousand to $321 thousand. Next to the motivating picture: a satisfied Winnie the Pooh is lying under a tree, and a whirlwind of money bills flies on top of him. Such pictures hang everywhere on the walls.
Over the past few days, operatives have identified three such call-center. All of them are similar to each other - rows of desks with computers, at which foreigners work. By the look of it, they are mostly natives of African, Asian and Latin American countries. The offices are decorated with foreign flags.
The suspects were detained and fingerprinted. In total, judging by the video, several dozen people worked in the offices.
Who is Yegor Burkin
The creator and supervisor of all three centers, law enforcement agencies believe Egor Burkin, head of the OCG "Khimprom". The media also call him a drug lord and head of a drug cartel.
Burkin, a native of Bashkiria, is well known to Russian law enforcement agencies and is currently on the federal wanted list as a person who has evaded investigation. The Interior Ministry, represented by its drug trafficking units, accuses Burkin under three articles of the Criminal Code - creation of a criminal association and participation in it, illegal acquisition, storage, transportation, manufacture, processing of narcotic drugs, and preparation to commit a crime.
According to operational data, Burkin created a drug group operating in Russia and Ukraine. Members of the criminal association and persons associated with it organized the production of synthetic drugs - mephedrone and alpha-PVP (salt). The drugs were distributed on the territory of Russia and Ukraine. Presumably, Burkin is now hiding in Mexico.
How call centersare created and who works in them
Call-centers are created in different countries of the world, they usually hire young people aged 16 to 35 years old with well-developed communication skills and readiness for fraudulent activities, Marat Safiulin, an expert of the financial literacy laboratory of Moscow State University, told Izvestia.
According to him, a good knowledge of the potential victim's language becomes a basic requirement for hiring. That's why most call centers, which are aimed at Russian investors, are created in neighboring countries, where there are many unemployed Russian-speaking young people.
- In our country, on the other hand, call-centers are created to work with residents of other countries of the world. At the same time, representatives of these countries who temporarily reside in Russia or know the relevant languages are often hired as employees," the expert said. - Call-center employees present themselves as experts of international investment or analytical companies, although in reality they have no special knowledge, financial or other education. Communication with the victim is 99% in accordance with a detailed guide.
The salary of those who process victims at the first stage is $1-1.5 thousand a month, says Marat Safiulin. At the same time, payment is piecework, depending on the number of FTD (first time deposit) - that is, the first deposits made by victims of fraud. The labor of "analysts", "traders" is evaluated by the amount of money deposited by the victim in the course of pseudo-trading.
In the case of Burkinabe call centers, we are talking about a notorious scheme for many Russians to make money on financial markets, the expert believes.
-Fraudsters create fake brokerage sites that supposedly allow trading on global financial markets, including the cryptocurrency market ," he explained. - In some cases, fake sites with the names of well-known financial organizations are used, but more often fraudsters create online resources with completely unknown pseudo-financial brands. This allows them to remain unnoticed by law enforcement and supervisory authorities for longer.
In the course of a telephone conversation, potential victims are offered the help of "experienced traders", who for 10-20% of the profit will help them to earn 15-20% per month of the deposit amount. To begin with, they offer to deposit a very small amount of money - $50-100 - and see how the process of earning money works. In "reality" the trader starts to show much better results - 5-20% per day. The victim is offered to try to withdraw part of the money. The availability of the withdrawal and fantastic income figures in the personal cabinet deprive the victim of the ability to critically assess what is going on for a certain period of time.
- An investor easily succumbs to the fraudsters' entreaties to increase his "brokerage" account by investing first all the free money he has and then the borrowed money," said Marat Safiulin. - Attempts to withdraw more or less large sums end with the demand for additional deposit, insurance account, tax payment. After the victim realizes that she has given the money to the fraudsters and stops contacting them, she starts receiving calls on behalf of lawyers, regulatory bodies and police with offers to return the stolen money.
What threatens the detainees
To search for victims, experts explained, as a rule, stolen databases of bank depositors, investors, buyers of real estate, cars are used. In addition, information is posted on social networks about the possibility of quick and good earnings.
Citizens of foreign countries will be able to return the lost money if they are recognized as victims in a criminal case and they claim civil claims within its framework, explained "Izvestia" lawyer of the inter-territorial Bar Association "Klishin and Partners" Denis Talyzin.
- But this will be possible if the defendants have property that can be foreclosed on," the lawyer said.
He added that if the amount of embezzlement is more than 1 million rubles, the accused could face up to 10 years in prison. And if each victim will be imputed as a separate episode, then up to 15 years of imprisonment.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
