Law enforcement agencies in Europe have dismantled a digital fraud network operating from Latvia.
As part of this coordinated investigation, seven people were taken into custody, and cryptocurrency assets worth around $330,000 were confiscated.
The operation, known as SIMCARTEL, was carried out by Europol and Eurojust, with support from authorities in Austria and Latvia.
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Officials seized large quantities of equipment, including 1,200 SIM box devices and around 40,000 SIM cards. These tools were used to supply telephone numbers to people in more than 80 countries, which helped them create fake profiles online to hide their real identities.
These fake accounts enabled various types of fraud, including scams on e-commerce platforms, investment schemes, fake banking and shopping sites, and impersonation attempts using messaging apps.
In Austria, related scams led to reported losses of roughly $5.2 million, while in Latvia, the financial damage reached nearly $488,000. Austrian officials linked the operation to more than 1,700 fraud cases, while Latvian authorities traced about 1,500 cases back to the same network.
Beyond the arrests, the operation also led to the confiscation of five servers, two websites used to promote the illegal services, four high-end vehicles, and several hundred thousand additional SIM cards.
Investigators also froze another $500,000 in bank accounts connected to the suspects.
On October 16, five individuals were arrested by London’s Metropolitan Police in connection with a suspected cryptocurrency scam. How did the case unfold? Read the full story.
