The Ukrainian criminal network takes revenge on Putin’s people

KHARKIV, Ukraine — Ukrainians are robbing Russians of their savings in an underground operation that steals money from Moscow’s citizens and gives it directly to Kiev’s military.

In call centers everywhere UkraineThe operation, known as “the Bureau,” equips workers with headphones, a computer program and the phone numbers of Russians. The agency is known to be operated by Ukrainian organized crime groups and is part of a global scam that exists in countries such as India and the Philippines, as well as within Russia.

Until February 24, 2022, the Bureau focused its scam in Ukraine on targets in Western countries such as the US and on several European Union-based companies. In the aftermath of the Russian invasion, it shifted all its work to Russian citizens. The fraud starts with the victim receiving a call from a telephone company asking for payment, and ends with the draining of all the money in the victim’s bank accounts.

According to According to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Crime (GI-TOC), there may be thousands of scammers across Ukraine as an example of “patriotic criminals” – pro-Ukrainian criminals committed to supporting Kiev’s war effort – that have proliferated since the invasion .

Some so-called patriotic criminals donate thousands of dollars to the Ukrainian army. The Daily Beast previously reported this. According to organized crime experts and members of the Ukrainian underworld, criminals’ wartime contributions range from providing aid and stopping crime to cyberwarfare.

The Bureau’s scam always starts the same, explains Stas, a 37-year-old who works in the Kharkiv branch of the underground organization. First, Stas calls the phone numbers assigned to him that day, one of up to 200 people he will talk to between the ages of 20 and 50. He then tells the Russians that he is an operator of mobile network companies such as Beeline or MTS. “Your number is about to be blocked,” Stas will tell the Russians, “You have to renew your number or it will be blocked.”

Some Russians are smart enough to realize the call is a scam and hang up, but other times people fall for it. “The most important thing is to hook at least one person,” Stas explains.

For those who stay on the line, Stas will tell them that the only way to unblock their number is to reveal their Russian tax number, the equivalent of a US social security number. “They’re starting to worry about why their number is being blocked. We start bombarding them with all kinds of stories, just to keep the person on the line and get his/her personal information,” says Stas.

Once Stas has his victim’s personal information, he places the Russian taxpayer number into an encrypted Telegram chatbot, where the next phase of the scam begins. Ukrainian hackers coded the chatbot to collect data on all the properties the Russians own, their credit history and bank account details. The Bureau can then empty all the money from all Russian bank accounts.

“If they have a good credit history, loans will be taken out in their name for up to one and a half million dollars. Requests are sent to all banks in Russia and all their belongings are taken, down to their last piece of clothing,” Stas added.

The most Stas claims to have defrauded from one person was a lawyer in Russia, and the amount allegedly totaled $200,000. Stas receives a total of 15 percent of each successful scam and says he makes an estimated $30,000 a year from The Office. The average salary for Ukraine in 2023 amounted to $6,060, according to the State Statistical Service of Ukraine.

While the World Bank estimated that 24 percent of Ukrainians lived in poverty in 2022, the Bureau provides financial stability for some as the war rages on.

Stas said he feels no remorse for defrauding the Russians, adding that the gullible Russians are “pure bastards.” When asked if he felt sorry for the victims, Stas said: “I feel sad when our boys are murdered. I am sad about that, but not for them (Russians).”

“I don’t feel guilty. I have heard people go crazy when they lose all their money, property and homes. But it doesn’t bother me much,” he added.

Others who work for the Bureau see it as a means to an end when seasonal work dries up. A man named Sasha in Kharkiv worked alone in the winter for the phone bank scam and said he didn’t like the job much, found it boring and found he didn’t feel good about scamming normal citizens.

“I was just thinking that if you put it in the place of close relatives, it is unpleasant, and in general it is a pity for the Russians,” said Sasha. Still, he says, “I don’t feel sorry for them.”

Both GI-TOC and Sasha have said the phone bank scam affects everyone in Russia, including people over 50, despite Stas’s claim that he never speaks to the elderly. Sasha said he only made $3,000 over a three-month period working at the firm, but he has seen others make “insane amounts of money” and drive to work in luxury cars.

Sasha claimed that many people who work at the Bureau donate part of their income to the Ukrainian military, which was supported by a verified source The Daily Beast spoke to on condition of anonymity. When asked if the Ukrainian military is aware of the scam, our source declined to comment.

Stas claimed to donate half of his annual income to the Ukrainian military, leaving him and his family with only $15,000 a year to live on. The money, Stas noted, is enough for him, but he recognized that he could live a much better life than he currently has.

Stas comes from Saltivka, a neighborhood in Kharkiv that has been under constant fire for the past two and a half years. In the first year of the war, Stas’s apartment was hit by a rocket attack, leaving his family without a home. They have moved to Stas’ parental home and are currently looking for new housing.

Stas could use the Bureau’s money to find a nice apartment in a safer area of ​​Kharkiv, but he still chooses to donate most of his income to brigades, like the one his brother is fighting for in Donbas . Over the course of the war, Stas said he knew more than 400 men who died in battle, many dating back to his days as an athlete.

“It’s hard for me when I hear that our boys are dying. “I grew up here,” he said. ‘At least this is my country. Even if it didn’t bring me anything, it is my homeland. I grew up here. My whole life has been here.”