Austrian and Albanian police arrested 10 people in Tirana on May 5, 2026, shutting down call centers that employed 450 people across departments and defrauded victims of €50 million through fake investment schemes and crypto recovery fraud. Authorities seized €900,000 in cash following a two-year investigation conducted by Europol and Eurojust into the criminal network operating from Tirana.
Tirana call center bust
- ▪Austrian and Albanian police shut down fraudulent call centers in Tirana on May 5, 2026
- ▪Authorities seized large quantities of IT equipment during the Tirana call center operation
- ▪Authorities seized approximately €900,000 in cash during the Tirana call center operation
- ▪Austrian and Albanian police arrested 10 people in Tirana on May 5, 2026
Criminal network operations
- ▪Individual operators at the Tirana call centers earned approximately $938 per month in salary plus commission
- ▪Europol and Eurojust conducted a two-year investigation into a criminal network operating out of Tirana
- ▪Workers at the Tirana call centers built trust with potential victims before pitching fabricated investment opportunities
- ▪The Tirana call centers employed as many as 450 people across departments including IT and human resources
- ▪The Tirana call centers allegedly defrauded victims of approximately €50 million through fake investment schemes and crypto recovery fraud
- ▪Workers at the Tirana call centers were organized by language specialization to target victims in specific markets
Crypto recovery scam tactics
- ▪The supposed recovery service required victims to open crypto accounts and deposit an initial 500 euros
- ▪Scammers re-contacted victims who had already lost money in the initial fraud and offered to help them recover their stolen funds
- ▪The United States FTC advised consumers that scammers cannot recover lost crypto funds
Limited enforcement impact
- ▪It is unclear if police will be able to find and convict the people who set up the Tirana call center operations
- ▪The Western Balkans and parts of Eastern Europe have become particularly vulnerable to crypto scam operations
- ▪Anti-fraud specialists cautioned that dismantling individual operations does little to curb the broader problem of crypto recovery scams
- ▪Europol characterized the criminal network as disrupted rather than fully dismantled
Perspective of Anti-fraud specialists
- ▪Anti-fraud specialists cautioned that dismantling individual operations does little to curb the broader problem of crypto recovery scams
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