Cybercrime Southeast Europe Newsletter No. 112

Online Fraud Is Becoming a Regional Problem – Why the Western Balkans Matter

Online fraud is becoming an increasingly significant challenge for law enforcement authorities across the Western Balkans. Modern fraud schemes increasingly cross national borders, combine traditional banking transactions with cryptocurrency, and rely heavily on social engineering – manipulating victims into transferring money or disclosing sensitive information themselves.

Recent cases in the region demonstrate that online fraud can no longer be viewed simply as a series of isolated incidents between an individual fraudster and a single victim.

Serbia Again Warns Citizens About Online Fraud

During August, Serbia’s Ministry of Interior once again warned citizens about various forms of online fraud, pointing out that practically anyone using a mobile phone, computer, social media or electronic banking can become a target.

Citizens are particularly advised to verify suspicious messages, links and websites rather than relying solely on the appearance of a message or the identity claimed by its sender.

Particular attention has been drawn to phishing and smishing scams, fraudulent messages impersonating banks, public authorities, delivery services or other well-known companies, as well as scams carried out through social media and messaging applications.

The Problem Is Not Limited to Serbia

Similar challenges can be seen throughout the Balkans, while individual cases demonstrate how large and organised the networks behind online fraud can become.

One significant regional operation involved a network of call centres operating from Albania.

During 2026, Albanian and Austrian authorities, supported by Europol and Eurojust, took action against an organised network suspected of carrying out large-scale online investment fraud.

According to Europol, ten individuals were arrested in Tirana, while almost EUR 900,000 in cash was seized, together with a large number of computers and mobile phones.

Victims of the suspected network are estimated to have suffered losses of approximately EUR 50 million.

The case illustrates one of the defining characteristics of modern investment fraud: the victim, the fraudulent investment platform, the call centre making the contact and the accounts receiving the money may all be located in entirely different countries.

Investment Fraud Is Increasingly International

A victim in Serbia, Germany, Austria or another European country may believe that they are communicating with a legitimate financial adviser or broker.

In reality, the person contacting them may be working from a call centre in another country, using a false identity and directing the victim to transfer money to companies, bank accounts or cryptocurrency wallets located in other jurisdictions.

Once funds begin moving through several countries and different financial systems, tracing them and potentially recovering them becomes considerably more complex.

For this reason, international cooperation, cryptocurrency tracing and the exchange of information between law enforcement and judicial authorities in different countries are becoming increasingly important.

Technology Is Evolving, but Fraud Still Depends on the Human Factor

Although fraudsters use increasingly sophisticated technology, many successful online fraud schemes continue to rely on one basic principle – convincing the victim to take the required action themselves.

This may involve transferring money, entering payment card details, disclosing login credentials or installing software that gives another person remote access to a computer or mobile phone.

Fraudsters may impersonate:

• banks and other financial institutions;
• public authorities;
• investment advisers and brokers;
• delivery services and well-known companies;
• lawyers or companies claiming to recover lost funds;
• potential romantic or business partners.

The first contact may come through SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram, social media, email or an online advertisement.

The method of communication changes, but the objective remains largely the same – to create enough trust, fear or urgency for the victim to act in the way the fraudster requires.

Why Is International Cooperation Essential?

National borders represent an increasingly limited obstacle for those organising online fraud, but they remain highly relevant for the authorities investigating it.

A bank account identified in one investigation may also appear in another. The same may be true of telephone numbers, email addresses, companies, cryptocurrency wallets and payment service providers.

As a result, information obtained by authorities in one country may become important to an investigation taking place in an entirely different jurisdiction.

Operations conducted in recent years through cooperation between Balkan countries and European institutions demonstrate that international cooperation can lead to arrests, searches, seizure of computer equipment and identification of assets linked to fraudulent activity.

Nevertheless, recovering victims’ money remains one of the most difficult aspects of these cases. Identifying the perpetrators does not automatically mean that the victims’ funds have been located, just as identifying certain assets does not necessarily mean that they can immediately be returned to those who suffered losses.

What Can Victims Do?

Anyone who believes they may have become a victim of online investment or financial fraud should preserve as much evidence as possible.

Bank transfer confirmations, cryptocurrency transaction records and wallet addresses, email correspondence, telephone numbers, messaging-app conversations, website addresses and documents provided by the alleged investment company may all become important at a later stage.

Particular caution is also necessary after the original fraud has already occurred. Victims are often contacted again by individuals claiming that their money has been located and can be returned once a fee, tax or other charge has been paid.

These are known as recovery scams, in which an attempt is made to defraud the same victim for a second time.

Developments across the Balkans demonstrate that online financial fraud is no longer a problem confined to a single country, platform or group of victims.

A fraud may begin with a single message on a victim’s phone, while behind that message there may be a network of individuals, companies, bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets spread across several countries.

For this reason, promptly reporting suspected fraud, preserving documentation and effective international cooperation are becoming increasingly important in identifying and investigating these criminal networks.

If you have been a victim of an online investment fraud, it is important not to view your case in isolation. Information concerning the platform, accounts to which funds were transferred or individuals with whom you communicated may also appear in other cases and jurisdictions. If you would like to determine whether such connections exist and what legal options may be available in your particular case, you may contact us and provide the available documentation for review.

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