Ukraine's Cyber Police Department said on 6 November 2026 that the international operation 'Trade' dismantled a criminal network running fraudulent call centres in Ukraine that targeted victims across the European Union.

According to the Cyber Police, the suspects posed as brokers and financial advisers and used social engineering, IP telephony and messaging apps to persuade victims to invest in cryptocurrencies, shares and other financial instruments through fraudulent online trading platforms; 135 German citizens were defrauded of more than EUR 4.3 million. The Cyber Police say the suspects helped victims open accounts on cryptocurrency exchanges, buy digital assets and transfer them to accounts the criminal organisation controlled, and in some cases gained access to victims' online banking; the proceeds were moved through bank accounts, cryptocurrency exchanges and transit wallets.

The operation was run by the Cyber Police Department and the Main Investigation Department of the National Police under the procedural supervision of the Office of the Prosecutor General, with German law enforcement through a Joint Investigation Team. Police carried out 39 searches in August 2026 in Kyiv and the Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, and 17 more in Kyiv and Kyiv region in September 2026, seizing nearly UAH 600,000, more than USD 90,000, phones, hardware crypto wallets, SIM cards and computer equipment.

Four members, including the alleged organiser, were detained; the four and one more accomplice were notified of suspicion of fraud and creating, leading or taking part in a criminal organisation, offences punishable by up to 12 years' imprisonment. The court ordered the organiser and three accomplices held in pre-trial detention and placed another alleged co-organiser under house arrest; the investigation is ongoing.

BleepingComputer reported the operation on 9 November. (source: Cyber Police of Ukraine)