Police officers from the Poznań branch of the Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime dismantled an organized criminal group whose members extorted money by obtaining BLIK codes. In this way, they defrauded approximately 1,300 people of more than PLN 3 million! Officers: – Using fake accounts, the criminals posted advertisements offering fictitious items for sale, including electronics. The next step was to extort a BLIK code from a potential buyer. Ultimately, the fraudsters transferred the money they obtained to cryptocurrency wallets.
Police detained seven men aged between 19 and 37. Each of them was charged with between 20 and approximately 370 offenses! The charges included participation in an organized criminal group, as well as directing a criminal group, money laundering and numerous fraud offenses, for which they face up to 15 years in prison.
The court ordered pretrial detention for three months for all those detained.
The operations were carried out in five provinces: Lower Silesian, Masovian, Warmian-Masurian, Łódź and Subcarpathian, with the support of the Łódź and Rzeszów branches and the Wrocław branch of the CBZC.
During searches of residential premises, officers secured various types of data storage media—computers, phones and drives.
Police: – The loss estimates are preliminary—the case is ongoing, so the losses may be greater, and further arrests cannot be ruled out.
The case is supervised by the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Łódź. This was the second operation in the case. So far, 9 people have been arrested in total.