`Romantic" scammers exposed in Armenia 

ArmInfo.  Officers from the Cybercrime Department of the Criminal Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Armenia received a tip-off that a group of Armenian and foreign citizens had rented office space in the basement of a residential building in Yerevan, equipped it with specialized computer equipment, and were committing computer thefts. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.


Based on a comprehensive review of the tip-off, a crime report was sent to the Investigative Committee. A criminal case was opened. On March 17, officers from the Department for the Investigation of Particularly Serious Crimes of the Criminal Police and the Investigative Committee conducted a surprise search at the address. As a result of coordinated efforts, law enforcement officers discovered the members of the cybercrime group. Equipment used for the criminal scheme was seized from the scene: computers, mobile phones, foreign mobile phone cards, criminal coordinators, and other physical evidence crucial to the investigation.


It was established that the group operated according to a pre-planned criminal scheme, employing a well- known digital method of "romance fraud." This criminal scheme relied on a combination of psychological pressure and digital deception. In other words, group members, concealing their identities and locations, created fake accounts on dating apps, as well as on Telegram and WhatsApp. Posing as young, attractive women, they corresponded with potential victims in carefully crafted love letters. Victims were recruited primarily through various Telegram chats. Having gained the trust of the citizens, the criminal group members directed them to fake phishing sites disguised as online shopping platforms under various pretexts. As a result, abusing their emotional state and trust, the suspected criminals induced them to make payments, stealing their funds. It was also discovered that the stolen funds were cashed out in a foreign country through intermediaries and then converted into cryptocurrency.


Procedural actions are currently being taken to identify all members of the criminal group. The investigation is ongoing.