Ukraine’s law enforcement agencies have broken up a big crypto fraud ring in Kyiv, grabbing hundreds of devices and exposing a network that cheated victims in at least 20 countries. The move was announced by the National Police of Ukraine and the Security Service of Ukraine on September 3. It went after a fake cryptocurrency investment platform that had been running through Telegram.
According to investigators, the group used Telegram to push fake investment ads and funnel users to a cloned trading platform. On the site, victims were shown made-up profit charts and fake returns. Then came the trap. When people tried to withdraw their money, the scammers asked for a small “verification” transaction and told them to approve it. But that approval let the attackers empty victims’ wallets through a built-in token-stealing program.
So far, authorities have confirmed 62 victims from countries including Germany, Poland, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Israel. The fraud ring was headed by a 25-year-old IT specialist. At its peak, the operation was bringing in as much as $1 million per month.
Police carried out 34 searches in Kyiv and the surrounding region, seizing more than 100 computers, over 100 mobile phones, 79 SIM cards, and a large amount of related equipment. The investigation is still underway. Officials are trying to identify more accomplices, more victims, and the full amount of stolen funds. And the case is a blunt reminder that crypto scams are still hitting international users through social media platforms like Telegram.