Victims of cyberfraud holding protest outside Prosecutor General`s  Office

ArmInfo.  A group of citizens who had been victims of cyberfraud held a protest outside the Armenian Prosecutor General's Office, demanding that appropriate measures be taken to prevent such crimes. The citizens gathered outside the office insist that the Prosecutor General's Office accept the criminal complaint, initiate a criminal case, and recognize them  as victims.

Mher Karagyozyan, chairman of the Public Control NGO, told reporters  that the total number of victims, according to their estimates, could  reach 17,000 people, yet only about 250 have reached out to them. He  also noted that the police have only received a few dozen reports so  far. However, he believes that citizens' reluctance to contact law  enforcement and the small number of complaints are due to a lack of  trust in government agencies, rather than a narrow circle of victims.

As an example, the organization's chairman cited typical responses  citizens receive from authorized bodies:  "Where was your head?" or  "You voluntarily handed over the money, now what are you demanding of  us?" According to Karagezyan, such responses only serve to conceal  crimes and increase mistrust of government agencies, which should be  cause for concern. He expressed the belief that if such crimes had  been prevented at an early stage, the number of victims could have  been significantly lower.

Regarding the number of victims, Karagezyan clarified that they had  been contacted by citizens who had suffered damage from various  platforms, most recently the online service "Hellobit." He noted that  "Hellobit" victims claim that between 18,000 and 19,000 people were  online on the platform. "Considering that only one in twenty of them  made a real profit, that's approximately 17,000 victims," the  organization's chairman explained. Karagezian, however, declined to  specify the amounts involved, noting that many victims' losses ranged  from $1,000 to $167,000.

Recall, in February of this year, it was reported that two call  centers were shut down in Yerevan after reports of  fraudulent  activities in Europe and Kazakhstan. The members of the transnational  criminal group were engaged in online fraud against citizens of  Kazakhstan and European countries, offering victims the opportunity  to invest in supposedly large investment companies. During the  special operation, 41 members of the criminal group, including  citizens of Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Syria, and Lebanon, were  detained.