On 10 of December 2020 the Bulgarian and Romanian authorities successfully concluded joint investigation codenamed VOICES that was targeting offenders committing social engineering crimes by phone/phone scams, fraudulently obtaining financial benefits from vulnerable persons by deceiving them.
The investigation initiated by the Bulgarian Police revealed that in order to try to circumvent the Bulgarian law enforcement authorities, part of the organized crime group members, namely Bulgarian citizens, were accommodating for different periods of time on the territory of Romania, and using sim cards and phones bought from Romania were committing the above-mentioned offences.
Following the swift exchange of information done through SELEC secure channel, and by using special investigative methods, the Romanian authorities located the offenders and gathered the necessary evidences as regards their criminal activities.
Following a jointly coordinated operation developed in the same day in both countries, 8 members of the organized crime group were detained.
During the house searches performed in various Bulgarian and Romanian towns and villages, almost 100 mobile phones and more than 100 SIM cards were found as means for performing the crimes, and 12 cars, money, jewelleries were seized.
The judicial proceedings in this case are currently ongoing.
