A criminal gang based in Korce, Albania, about 16km from the northern borders with Greece, was dismantled by Albanian police after it had reportedly siphoned off thousands of euros from Greek bank accounts.
According to the announcement from the police directorate of Korce, the masterminds of the gang were a 30-year-old from Tirana and a 29-year-old from Korce. The report states that the perpetrators had managed to deceive at least 5,000 victims in Greece by promoting software on the computers of unsuspecting Greeks, allowing them to gain access to their bank accounts and other personal data. Subsequently, through virtual intermediaries, they diverted financial amounts from the victims’ bank accounts to unknown accounts.
The amount of money stolen from the victims’ bank accounts ranged, according to the police, from €3,000 to €5,000 per account.
The second mechanism for extracting money, as stated in the Albanian police announcement, involved the approach and involvement of Greeks in cryptocurrency scams.
During the operation, the police discovered 23 computers and other high-tech devices in the gang’s operational center in the city of Korce. The equipment included records with names and phone numbers of Greeks, fake receipts of bank money transfer orders, and cryptocurrency “Bitcoin” transactions.
The fraudulent facilities were managed by seven specialized individuals, all of whom were arrested.
