The FSB stopped the activities of crypto exchanges that helped Kiev. What is known

On August 7, the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia stopped the operation of nine channels for withdrawing funds abroad through cryptocurrency and detained employees of illegal exchangers in Moscow City. Through them, Ukrainian call centers laundered funds stolen from Russians. The money turnover of the attackers reached $2 million per day. All the details are in the Izvestia article.

FSB statement

The FSB Public Relations Center (PSC) reported that more than 20 employees of unregistered cryptocurrency exchange offices were detained at the Moscow City business center. In total, nine channels for transferring funds abroad using cryptocurrency transactions have been identified.

According to the intelligence service, cryptocurrency was sold at exchange offices to people, including pensioners, who were under the influence of fraudsters and transferred it to the accounts of Ukrainian curators. The age of the victims varied greatly: from 18 to 70 years old. The victims were constantly in touch with the call center, followed step-by-step instructions and did not realize the nature of their actions, the department said.

The scheme of work

The FSB Central Control Center also released footage of the suspects' interrogation. According to one of the defendants, the daily turnover of illegal crypto exchanges reached $1-2 million. Another detainee said that the daily volume of transactions could reach 30 million rubles.

To work in crypto exchanges from Russian regions, young people were remotely recruited "without sufficient financial literacy" who were eager to make quick money. In addition, security forces detained accomplices of Ukrainian call centers aged from 18 to 25 years. They worked as couriers: they received money from deceived citizens and transferred it to exchangers for further transfer to Ukraine.

The scammers also recruited their victims. In a video distributed by the FSB, a man who was detained in Moscow City says that he was deceived: the attackers, disguised as Russian authorities, reported that a power of attorney had allegedly been issued in his name, for which it was necessary to withdraw all money from the accounts. After that, he was convinced that he should work for three days as a "freelance employee" and help in detaining fraudsters.

The criminal case

The investigative units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have opened criminal cases on the crimes of Ukrainian fraudsters under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Fraud on an especially large scale"). The FSB clarified that employees of crypto exchanges and couriers face up to 10 years in prison. The security forces are looking for victims of the actions of criminals to establish the circumstances and possible compensation for damage.