Lithuanian court hands prison sentences to phone scammers

A Vilnius district court has sentenced two foreign nationals to multi-year prison terms for orchestrating large-scale phone fraud, prosecutors announced on Saturday.

The Vilnius City District Court found a 19-year-old Ukrainian citizen and a 29-year-old Belarusian citizen guilty of fraud, illegal acquisition and use of payment card data, and unauthorized access to IT systems, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office. The Ukrainian received a five-year, three-month sentence, while the Belarusian was jailed for four years and six months.

Investigators estimate the pair, acting as part of an international organized crime group, defrauded 42 individuals and several companies in Lithuania out of nearly €315,000 in just one week in 2024. The scammers posed as bank representatives, police officers, or tech support staff—often speaking Russian—before tricking victims into disclosing banking credentials or handing over cash and cards directly.

Prosecutors stated the fraudsters exploited victims’ trust to drain accounts, take out loans in their names, and funnel stolen funds through newly opened accounts. The court upheld most civil claims, ordering the defendants to jointly compensate over €293,000 in material and non-material damages. Temporary asset freezes had been imposed during the pre-trial investigation to secure restitution.

The ruling may be appealed.