Police detain five Latvian citizens in Moscow-based phone scam group
Wednesday 5th August 2026 on 10:30 in
Latvia
Latvia’s State Police have detained five Latvian citizens suspected of operating a Moscow-based organised phone fraud group, LSM reported. The group allegedly defrauded several Latvian residents between May and September 2025.
The State Police Cybercrime Enforcement Department completed its investigation on August 3. Investigators identified the suspects and obtained evidence of their activities.
The suspects allegedly posed as bank and police employees and contacted victims in Latvian. They falsely claimed that someone was attempting to withdraw money from the victims’ bank accounts or apply for loans in their names.
The fraudsters persuaded victims to install remote-access programmes, including AnyDesk and HopToDesk, on their phones or computers. They then instructed them to log in to their online banking accounts, enabling the suspects to obtain users’ internet banking numbers and personal identification codes and to have them approve transfers and loan applications prepared by the fraudsters.
The group used the victims’ banking details to transfer money to accounts held by customers of other banks before moving the funds to accounts controlled by the fraudsters.
Four group members allegedly made the calls and defrauded Latvian nationals. The fifth organised the laundering of the stolen funds by recruiting money mules, moving cash and transferring non-cash funds. Investigators have identified more than 30 people who agreed to provide their bank accounts for payment, allowing the group to obtain the stolen money.
The criminal case was sent for the initiation of prosecution against the five suspects under Article 177, Part Three, and Article 195, Part Three, of Latvia’s Criminal Law.
At least 11 Latvian residents have been identified as victims, with total losses exceeding 87,256 euros. The Cybercrime Enforcement Department is continuing a separate pre-trial investigation to identify and investigate other crimes linked to the organised group.