An international police operation uncovered a sophisticated cyber-scam network that victimized thousands and revealed the alarming scale of “fraud centers” in Asia.
European investigators struck hard. In June, Europol announced the dismantling of a transnational cryptocurrency fraud scheme that trapped more than 5,000 victims worldwide, with damages estimated at €460 million (about $540 million). Behind these staggering figures lies a well-oiled machine, combining psychological manipulation, human exploitation, and large-scale money laundering. The case also highlights a new mutation of cybercrime, where artificial intelligence is becoming a key lever to industrialize scams.
The Trap of Digital Trust
Dubbed Operation Borrelli, the investigation was led by the Spanish Civil Guard with support from Estonian, French, and U.S. law enforcement. Five suspects were arrested on June 25, three in the Canary Islands and two in Madrid. Their method relied on a scam known as “cryptocurrency trust,” a digital variant of romance fraud. Victims, seduced or convinced they were in a genuine relationship, were persuaded to invest in alleged cryptocurrency trading platforms. The sites, in reality controlled by the fraudsters, displayed fake returns and pushed users to deposit more money.
Once deposits were made, the funds vanished into a maze of accounts and shell companies. Banks and businesses registered in Hong Kong provided a façade of legitimacy for these financial flows. Criminals, using forged identities, relied on money mules to transfer funds and obscure transaction trails.
Fraud Centers and Human Exploitation
Behind the screens, the scam also relied on physical exploitation. Many victims were not only financially ruined but also trapped in “fraud centers” in Southeast Asia. These complexes, officially presented as recruitment offices or startups, in fact housed dozens of people forced to scam under threats. Amnesty International estimates that more than 50 such centers operate in Cambodia, under conditions akin to forced labor and human trafficking.
NGOs report that workers are deprived of passports, constantly monitored, and forced to conduct online conversations to lure new Western targets. The criminal economy thus works on two levels: illegal capital extraction and direct human exploitation. This web makes police action complex, as it merges cybercrime with traditional organized crime.
A New Era for Cyberfraud
Europol used the operation to warn about a growing threat: criminal groups’ use of artificial intelligence. Scams increasingly rely on chatbots capable of simulating convincing conversations, AI-generated voices, or realistic fake profile images. This automation boosts fraudsters’ ability to target thousands of victims simultaneously.
Big tech platforms have started to respond. Meta (organization banned in the Russian Federation) claims to have removed 7 million accounts linked to these networks. Telegram, often criticized for serving as a digital haven for criminal groups, announced it blocked channels used to coordinate operations. But the race remains unbalanced: each shutdown spawns new channels, more discreet and often end-to-end encrypted.
This dismantling underscores that cryptocurrency fraud is no longer an isolated issue of naive investors but a global system combining emotional manipulation, emerging technologies, and human exploitation. Beyond the financial toll, one question remains: how can law enforcement anticipate the industrialization of cyberfraud, when artificial intelligence itself becomes a tool for organized crime? [ZATAZ News English version]
