About 2,000 fraudulent call centers operate in Ukraine – Forbes

About 2,000 fraudulent call centers operate in Ukraine fraudulent call centers that extort money from citizens of Ukraine and other countries, according to an investigation by the Ukrainian publication Forbes.

This figure was announced to the publication by the People's Deputy of Ukraine Oleksandr Kunytskyi, who in 2023 headed the temporary investigative commission of parliament, which was engaged in studying the issue of telephone cyber fraud.

A senior official from the National Police, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, confirmed that this figure is close to reality.

At the same time, most fraudulent call centers are focused on extorting money from citizens of Russia.

The reason is that the fraudsters believe that in in this case, liability can be avoided, including due to the lack of cooperation between law enforcement agencies.

In November of this year, Stanislav Kuznetsov, deputy chairman of the board of the Russian Sberbank, said that in February-March 2024, an unprecedented number of fraudulent phone calls to Russian citizens were recorded.

During this period, about 20 million attempts to reach the number per day were recorded, said Kuznetsov, whose words are quoted by Russian media.

By November 2024, this figure had decreased to approximately 6-6.5 million calls per day. At the same time, Kuznetsov said, the calls have become more professional.