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| A weekly newsletter zooming in on Europe through local perspectives. Every Friday, one topic explored by five independent newsrooms. | | IN THIS ISSUE | §01 · In focus — Cybercrime and scams in Europe
§02 · The local view — Berlin, Riga, Warsaw, Vienna and Zagreb
§03 · The podcast — Listen to the latest episode and join the conversation
§04 · From the newsrooms — Recent reporting from the lensEU network |
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| §01 · IN FOCUS | The EU should better protect us from “scam states” | It is no longer just petty criminals who are fleecing elderly people or unsuspecting investors. Crime involving romance scams, crypto scams and other ploys has grown into an industry – one that has become “too big to fail” for some countries. | By now, almost everyone knows someone who has fallen prey to fraudsters: an online “Romeo” who, after weeks of flattery, suddenly needs money; the investment adviser who has discovered this new cryptocurrency that promises incredible returns; or callers who, usually targeting older people, pretend that something terrible has happened and that they are in danger. An industry has emerged, complete with political protection. The EU can fight back. | The Global Anti-Scam Alliance – an organisation comprising Big Tech firms such as Google and Apple, as well as banks and consumer protection groups – estimates that by 2025, around 442 billion US dollars will have been scammed worldwide, equivalent to around 386 billion euros. This means the fraudsters achieved an economic (non-)output comparable to that of an EU country the size of Denmark. | The fact that criminal operations on this scale are carried out with political backing is not a conspiracy theory. The scam industry is based in South-East Asia. There, the criminals have become a force to be reckoned with. | “Scam states” are not just someone else’s problem | The “scam states” are not just someone else’s problem; the internet ensures that is not the case. On the one hand, because Austrians are losing their savings to the fraudsters. But the scammers also foster an atmosphere of mistrust. This is not only poison for the economy, which saves a great deal of money by relying on the trustworthiness of a handshake. The fear of the next scam has the potential to undermine an open society. | One way to combat the machinations of the scam industry is through police work. Austria has recently distinguished itself in this regard. However, in the end, it is unlikely to be possible to catch every single fraudster through painstaking detective work, especially as they often live beyond the reach of European investigators. The EU and its member states must ask themselves how they should deal with the situation when other countries are, in some cases, riddled with scam organisations that are targeting their citizens’ assets. | In episode 8 of LensEU, produced by Die Presse, we take a closer look at the scam industry. “Die Presse editor Teresa Wirth explains how the international fraud network “Milton Group” defrauded investors across Europe of hundreds of millions of euros over a period of years – and why it is so difficult to dismantle such networks permanently. In the second part of the episode, Frida Thurm, senior reporter at CORRECTIV. Europe, about a joint investigation with Computer Weekly (UK) and Solomon (Greece): she reveals that Europol – the EU agency tasked with coordinating precisely such cross-border cases – has for years operated a so-called ‘shadow IT’ system, in which sensitive personal data was processed without adequate data protection. | And for anyone who wants to try out for themselves how fraudsters operate: with the Die Presse’s interactive scam simulator, users can step into the shoes of the perpetrators and experience the psychological tricks behind the notorious “Hello Mum” scam. | — Christoph Zotter and Anna Wallner, Die Presse |
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| | | Berlin · Germany · CORRECTIV | “They Protect the Law While Breaking It”: Europol’s Handling of Sensitive Data | Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, is tasked with combating online fraud and identity theft. But parts of the agency appear to have serious problems of their own when it comes to handling sensitive personal data. | In May, CORRECTIV, together with Computer Weekly in the UK and Solomon in Greece, revealed that Europol had apparently built a shadow IT system. | Former Europol employees describe it as “shadow IT” because it operated alongside the agency’s official systems. According to their accounts, it was used to analyse personal data without complying with data protection or IT security rules. Internal reports by a Europol task force, which we obtained through a freedom of information request, reveal serious security shortcomings. | In 2020, the European Parliament was informed by the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) about data protection concerns at Europol. Our investigation now finds that there was apparently more than one unregulated system. | According to former Europol employees we interviewed, as well as internal emails reviewed by CORRECTIV an its partners, the tool “Pressure Cooker” was also part of the shadow IT infrastructure. Europol maintains that it is an official system. | Following our investigation, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) responded by confirming that the allegations go beyond what the authority had previously been aware of. In a debate in the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), MEPs Saskia Bricmont (Greens/EFA) and Birgit Sippel (S&D) expressed concern about the implications for data protection and the rule of law. | A team of human rights lawyers has since filed a complaint with the EDPS on behalf of three affected individuals, demanding that Europol immediately shut down its shadow IT systems. The EDPS has three months to respond. If no action is taken, the lawyers say they will bring the case before the Court of Justice of the European Union. | — Frida Thurm, Senior Reporter CORRECTIV.Europe |
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| | Riga · Latvia · TVNET | Millions of Euros and Ruined Lives: How Scammers Affect People in Latvia | News stories about fraud in Latvia often resemble the plots of popular films — and films from entirely different genres. There is a police thriller about an elaborate financial fraud scheme, a melodrama about an older woman who falls in love with a young African man, and even something approaching an ancient tragedy. | Not long ago, the Latvian State Police issued a statement about the international operation SIM Cartel. According to investigators, members of the dismantled criminal group used other people’s personal data to launder at least €1.5 million. Unfortunately, reports like this appear with alarming regularity. | The most widespread cases, however, still involve telephone scams. Over the past six months, more than 3,500 such cases have been recorded in Latvia, with victims losing a total of €7 million. Fraudsters most often pose as police officers, representatives of the State Social Insurance Agency, bank employees, utility company staff, and other trusted professionals. | Cybersecurity expert Elvis Strazdiņš recently described how he tried to save a 60-year-old Latvian woman from scammers after she decided to travel to Ghana to meet her 24-year-old “boyfriend” — who, unsurprisingly, was also a fraudster. Elvis’s efforts were unsuccessful. Some victims send tens of thousands of euros to their supposed partners, taking out loans and even selling property to do so. Sadly, even this is not always the worst possible outcome: Elvis also spoke about one victim who eventually took her own life. | The police regularly remind the public about basic precautions, while banks use every available tool to prevent fraud. Yet too many people continue to ignore the warnings, and scammers show no sign of stopping. | Sadly. | — Andrejs Timofejevs, TVNET GRUPA journalist. |
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| | Warsaw · Poland · OKO.press | Poland Steps Up Fight Against Investment Scams | A 68-year-old man from southern Poland lost nearly PLN 130,000 after responding to an online advertisement offering investment in ORLEN shares. A fake broker persuaded him to make repeated transfers to a supposed investment account and later demanded further payments before allowing him to withdraw his alleged profits. Polish Police described the case in June 2025.
Polish authorities are trying to curb such scams through website blocking, reporting systems, public warnings and specialised investigations. CSIRT KNF, the cybersecurity team of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, identifies fraudulent investment advertisements, fake profiles and malicious domains and submits them for blocking. In 2024, it reported 45,985 domains connected with fake investments and 10,951 fraudulent advertisements on social media. According to CSIRT KNF, fake investments were the dominant financial cyberthreat in Poland.
CERT Polska, operated by the state institute NASK, maintains a warning list used by internet providers to block malicious websites. Citizens can report suspicious pages online, forward fraudulent text messages to the free number 8080 or report them through the mObywatel application.
These measures improve detection, but victims still have to contact banks, police, platforms and telecom providers separately. Poland therefore needs EU-level mechanisms for quickly freezing cross-border transfers, sharing evidence and requiring platforms to remove fraudulent advertisements faster.
The case involving a loss of 130,000 zł comes directly from a police statement, while the data on domains and advertisements comes from the KNF CSIRT’s annual report. (Policja.pl) | — Miłada Jędrysik, OKO.press
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| | Vienna · Austria · Die Presse | “It’s become an industry in its own right”: Who’s behind the business of scam calls and romance scams | A multi-billion-euro industry has sprung up around so-called scams, and in some countries it has become almost impossible to imagine life without it. Both victims and perpetrators are targeted in German-speaking countries too. Raids are also taking place in Europe. | The scammers’ tricks are essentially old but tried and tested: promising investments, legendary treasures or fake romances, all of which are ultimately designed to persuade someone to transfer their money. The scammers are rapidly advancing technologically, for example by using artificial intelligence (AI). “In most cases of fraud, there comes a moment when the victim wants to see the other person,” says Kristina Amerhauser of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime. “There is now face-swap AI, where someone sitting in front of the camera can set the parameter: ‘Who am I today?’” | In Cambodia, proceeds from scams are said to have been as high as half the official economic output in some years, according to an analysis published in May 2024 by the US Institute for Peace, which is funded by government grants. The authors of the study, which was published in May 2024 and included Kristina Amerhauser, estimated at the time that fraud in the six Mekong countries (China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam) could have resulted in the theft of assets worth more than 43 billion US dollars annually. In these countries, the term ‘scam hub’ refers to an economic factor that quickly becomes a geopolitical one. ‘Without political protection, it is not possible to run scam hubs on a large scale,’ says Amerhauser. | In any case, the methods used to fleece people around the world are surprisingly similar. “They are very sophisticated, and it is fascinating to see just how much they are adapted to local contexts,” says the expert on the scam industry. | — Christoph Zotter, “Die Presse” |
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| | Zagreb · Croatia · Telegram.hr | Scams? People are terribly inventive | It all seems completely legitimate. Your long-standing business partner sends you a notice changing their bank account details. They’ve consolidated their business operations and switched banks. The message even references your past communications. Absolutely nothing raises red flags, but the moment the money is sent to the new account, it is immediately routed to several others, making it impossible to trace. | This is a brief scenario of the most common cyber scam in Croatia, which has recently yielded significant results among local government units. In June, a county in the poorer eastern part of the country paid out several hundred thousand euros to who knows whom. | Marko Rakar, one of the founders of the Croatian chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), says he encounters similar situations up to twice a month. The account owner verification feature that Croatian banks recently introduced in their apps can help, but Rakar notes, "people are terribly inventive." | As an example, he points to replacing a Latin letter "a" with a Cyrillic "a" in the account holder's name. To the human eye, it looks identical, but to a computer, these are entirely different owners and accounts. | "Scams are on the rise," says Rakar, "because the tools for them, from generative AI onwards, are getting easier and easier to use." A study conducted this year by the Croatian ACFE chapter indicates that as many as 56 percent of business organizations believe phishing emails or AI-generated messages will pose their biggest fraud risks in the future. They are already facing these issues today—only 43 percent of respondents said they did not detect or suspect AI-driven fraud in 2025. | And what about those several hundred thousand euros that vanished from the eastern county's treasury in June? The county prefect refuses to state even the exact amount of money involved, instead accusing the opposition of prioritizing the politicization of the case over recovering the funds. So far, there are no updates on the success of the investigation. | — Jasmin Klarić, journalist, Telegram |
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| §03 · THE PODCAST | Cybercrime and scams in Europe — is the EU's own house in order? | In this episode, we ask whether Europe is actually equipped to fight the scam industry it is up against, not just among criminals, but within its own institutions. Few cases show the scale of that industry as clearly as the "Milton Group," a network of fake investment platforms that defrauded victims across Europe out of hundreds of millions of euros. We trace how such operations have industrialised, from call centres abroad to psychological scripts designed to manipulate victims within minutes. Then we turn to Europol, the EU agency meant to help coordinate the fight against exactly this kind of cross-border crime. | |
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