A criminal gang suspected of running an investment fraud scheme via call centres in Albania has been dismantled, the pan-European police body Europol said on Wednesday.
Europol said the operation, which involved Albanian and Austrian authorities since many victims were in Vienna, resulted in the arrests of 10 people and the seizure of nearly 900,000 euros ($1.1 million) in cash.
Victims were initially lured in via investment adverts on social media or the internet. The call centres in Tirana were then used to offer advice over the telephone from people pretending to be authentic brokers.
“Operators were organised into teams of six to eight individuals, each specialising in a specific language to target their respective national markets. Languages covered included German, English, Italian, Greek, and Spanish,” said Europol in a statement.
“As is common in investment scams, language familiarity was used to create and build trust. The suspects relied on this element to deceive their victims, presenting false investment opportunities and convincing them to transfer significant amounts of money,” it added.
The investigation was initially launched by the Austrian authorities due to the large number of victims identified in Vienna around June 2023. In April 2024, the Austrian authorities, through Europol, addressed the Albanian authorities with a request for information regarding an IP address suspected of being used by the perpetrators, who were located in the territory of the Republic of Albania. Following this request, the Albanian authorities initiated a criminal investigation.
With the support of Eurojust, a joint investigation was launched, leading to a coordinated action day on 17 April 2026. The raids conducted resulted in the arrest of ten individuals in Tirana, the searches conducted at three call centres and nine private homes lead to the seizure of
- EUR 891 735 in cash,
- 443 computers,
- 238 mobile phones,
- 6 laptops,
- as well as various data carriers and storage mediums.
Victims of this fraud scheme were located across Europe and worldwide, including in Italy, Germany, Greece, Spain, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The full dismantling of the IT infrastructure and the ongoing analysis of seized data are expected to provide further insights into the criminal network’s operations.
Europol’s experts deployed to support the operational measures helped securing large volumes of data relevant to the criminal investigations. This data will subsequently be shared with the investigating authorities of other affected countries. To support the action day, a Virtual Command Post (VCP) was established to facilitate the exchange of data and evidence.
Eurojust coordinated a joint investigation team (JIT) between Austrian and Albanian authorities with the support of its Western Balkans Criminal Justice Project. In addition to setting up the joint investigation team, Eurojust assisted with coordination meetings, funding for the action day and through the Western Balkans Criminal Justice Project, interpretation services.
Participating authorities:
- Albania: Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction, Tirana (Prokuroria pranë Gjykatës së Shkallës së Parë të Juridiksionit të Përgjitshëm Tiranë); Cybercrime Investigation Directorate and Operational Forces Directorate within the Criminal Police Department of the Albanian State Police (Drejtoria për Hetimin e Krimeve Kibernetike dhe Drejtoria e Forcave Operacionale në Departamentin e Policisë Kriminale të Policisë së Shtetit)
- Austria: Federal Criminal Intelligence Service (Bundeskriminalamt); Public Prosecutor‘s Office for Combatting Economic Crimes and Corruption (Wirtschafts- und Korruptionsstaatsanwaltschaft – WKStA)
- Europol
- Eurojust
