Police Arrest seven and seize more than 100 servers in investment fraud crackdown

On Nov. 3, 2026, police took seven people into custody and seized more than 100 servers as part of a coordinated operation targeting an international investment fraud network.

Investigators estimated total losses from the scheme at more than €4 million. Eurojust put the network’s losses at more than €4 million. Europol said potential victims live in at least 50 countries. The case started in 2022 after a German couple told police that an online trading platform had blocked access to the money they had invested.

Investigators said the scheme promised fast, enormous returns on digital currencies, forex and shares. Investigators said misleading ads sent people to fraudulent investment platforms, and they said affiliate marketing had been misused to attract victims. Investigators said details from the ads were allegedly sold to criminal groups that ran call centres.

Investigators said criminal groups allegedly bought details from marketing campaigns and then reached victims through call centres. Investigators said call-centre agents approached potential victims about supposed investment opportunities and pushed them to send money again and again.

Investigators said victims started with a small transfer, and their accounts then displayed fake profits, making the platform look credible. Investigators said supposed brokers pointed to the displayed profits to urge victims to send larger and larger sums. Eurojust said: “The fraudsters promised enormous profits within a short period through trading in cryptocurrencies, foreign currencies and stocks.”

Investigators said people who asked for withdrawals faced delaying tactics that blocked their payments. Investigators said communication eventually stopped, leaving victims with no way to recover their money. Eurojust said defrauded investors saw inflated profits after small transfers, faced pressure to invest further, and lost their money when the perpetrators disappeared.

Investigators concentrated on a company accused of selling fraudulent trading platforms to organized scam operations. Evidence from earlier operations pointed investigators to a company based in Cyprus and Israel that allegedly sold fake trading websites using a crime-as-a-service model, offering ready-made fraud infrastructure to other criminal groups. Investigators said the company’s suspected customers ran fraudulent call centers across Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia. Call-center staff linked to the firm were accused of persuading victims to hand over their savings.

Search teams examined 17 locations, including a Kosovo call center, and took servers, evidence and assets. Europol deployed specialists to Albania and Kosovo to assist with digital forensics during the raids. Europol’s Virtual Command Post backed the coordinated operation on the action day.

Prosecutors based in Itzehoe, Germany directed the inquiry with police and prosecutors from Albania, Cyprus, Finland, Israel, Kosovo and North Macedonia. Europol and Eurojust backed the operation, and Eurojust handled judicial actions from its headquarters in The Hague. Europol gave analytical and operational support and compared data against its databases.

Eurojust created two joint investigation teams for this case. One team covered Albania, Germany and Poland, and the other covered Albania and Kosovo. Eurojust helped carry out European Investigation Orders, European Arrest Warrants and asset freezing orders.

In 2022, an initial international action day led to two arrests and the seizure of evidence. Europol said: “A first international action day that year resulted in two arrests and the seizure of evidence.” In 2025, police carried out a second round of arrests and seized cash and evidence. The case followed four years of work, with earlier steps in 2022 and 2025.

Europol-backed analysis turned up seven more suspects, including people believed to run call centres. The seven suspects are to be surrendered or extradited to Germany.