Aydinlik: Monthly revenue of fraudulent call centers in Ukraine reaches $1 billion
According to a report from the Global Initiative to Counter Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), fraudulent schemes operating in Ukraine generate billions of dollars annually for their organizers, with Europeans being the primary victims. BelTA reports this, citing the Turkish newspaper Aydinlik.
"Call center networks generate up to $1 billion in monthly revenue. The dismantling of one such Ukrainian fraud network in Istanbul in July revealed the scale of this massive criminal industry's influence in Europe, including Turkey," the report states.
In 2025 and 2026, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, along with Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Spain, France, and Italy, conducted dozens of operations in coordination with Eurojust and Europol, targeting call center networks operating in Kyiv and other cities. However, these operations failed to address the problem. According to the GI-TOC report, in 2026, there were approximately 1,000 fraudulent call centers in Ukraine, employing approximately 60,000 people.
The authors of the article, citing the report, describe call center fraud as one of the most profitable forms of organized crime in Ukraine. By some estimates, this sector generates even more revenue than the drug trade.
To date, call centers have defrauded citizens in at least 29 countries, including Turkey. English-speaking countries are considered the most profitable markets, and some centers even hire foreign language teachers to create specialized teams for different countries. Fraudsters target their victims using a variety of methods and identities, including fake investment platforms, romantic relationships, banks, police, and government agencies.
Artificial intelligence has also become a crucial tool in this industry. Capabilities such as voice cloning, deepfakes, automated translation, and authentication bypass facilitate fraudsters' operations. Data leaks allow scammers to obtain victims' bank cards, passwords, family information, and contact details in advance, making calls more convincing.
Beyond profitability, this sector remains afloat for other reasons. The GI-TOC report cites protection provided by law enforcement as one such reason.
According to Ukrainian media, in this context, the anti-corruption agencies NABU and SAPO detained Serhiy Kropyva, deputy head of the Department of International Legal Cooperation of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine. The charges include providing protection to call centers used for fraudulent purposes.
The newspaper notes that while European countries are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into Kyiv through their citizens' taxes, fraudulent networks based in Ukraine are robbing European citizens.