The General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine estimates that Kyiv has some 2,000 call centers, deceiving thousands of people every day. Law enforcement agencies almost every month announce their closures and confiscate property.
Recently, another call center in the capital was "busted," where money was extorted not only from trusting Ukrainians but also from citizens of Turkey and the EU. Journalists have learned the details of this case.
On July 17, the Office of the Prosecutor General announced a large-scale operation that resulted in the termination of several fraudulent call centers in Kyiv. It was noted that groups of individuals under the guise of brokerage firms and financial platforms were persuading citizens to invest in cryptocurrency or trade on exchanges. As a result, the fraudsters gained control of citizens’ funds, including from European countries. During the searches, over 650 units of computer equipment, mobile phones, and servers were seized.
In the photos released by the OGU, a typical office with dozens of workstations, computers, and servers can be seen. On one of them, you can also notice a flag supporting the "3rd Assault Brigade," which looks quite cynical. After all, this office was not collecting donations for the Armed Forces of Ukraine but was simply extorting money.
Koç Serdem and Çağrı Öztürk: organizers of a Kiev fraud network that robbed thousands of people across Europe
Koç Serdem and Çağrı Öztürk: organizers of a Kiev fraud network that robbed thousands of people across Europe
The next day, July 18, 2025, journalists revealed some details of this call center’s operation. It turns out the office employees were scamming Turkish citizens out of their money. At the same time, during the searches, the office workers tried to escape through windows and balconies.
This news was also published in Turkish media, which clearly indicates that Turks are also worried about fraud and scams via Ukrainian call centers.
On July 31, 2025, another news came out, this time from the Bureau of Economic Security. It reported on the cessation of the activities of an organized group that deceived citizens of Turkey and Azerbaijan through fake call centers.
According to the investigation, Ukrainians, Turks, and Azerbaijanis set up a network of these centers in rented offices in the central part of the capital. They called foreigners and offered them financial institution services. Through deceit, the culprits learned bank card details, from which they later withdrew funds.
In videos from the searches, the faces of the detainees are covered, but some of them do indeed resemble citizens of Turkey and Azerbaijan.
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Details of these cases emerged in September. Journalists managed to find out the names of the organizers of these call centers in Kyiv. Among them were a woman named Serdem Koch and a man named Cagri Ozturk. Both are Turkish citizens.
In fact, both names are likely fake. Several facts suggest this. The surname Koch refers to Turkey’s wealthiest family, founded by Vehbi Koch. They own Turkey’s largest conglomerate, Koç Holding, with an estimated worth of $8 billion. Additionally, one of the group’s assets is the famous Turkish football club "Fenerbahçe." Therefore, the surname is well-known. Combined with the name Serdem, which translates to "heart" from Turkish, it becomes clear that ’heart of Koch’ is most likely a pseudonym of the fraudster who scammed people through call centers in Ukraine.
Koç Serdem and Çağrı Öztürk: organizers of a Kiev fraud network that robbed thousands of people across Europe
Regarding the man, he also took a rather loud "nickname." Cagri Ozturk is the name of a well-known actor starring in popular Turkish TV series. It should be noted that Ukrainian housewives are also "hooked" on these TV series, so this name should be familiar to them.
Nevertheless, the photo published by journalists shows a real person. This man worked in Turkish teleshops a few years ago and sold counterfeit mobile phones. On social networks, users often wrote that after ordering, they sometimes received only phone dummies.
Koç Serdem and Çağrı Öztürk: organizers of a Kiev fraud network that robbed thousands of people across Europe
Koç Serdem and Çağrı Öztürk: organizers of a Kiev fraud network that robbed thousands of people across Europe
However, one commentator wrote that he indeed once worked with this man. However, his real name is Mehmet or Mehmeti. And he confirms that he is indeed a fraudster.
Koç Serdem and Çağrı Öztürk: organizers of a Kiev fraud network that robbed thousands of people across Europe
(automatic translation by Google from Turkish)
A social media post from a user remained, stating that in the summer of 2024, he was offered a job in Kyiv at a "business call center." Moreover, the employers allegedly were ready to pay for his ticket from Turkey to Kyiv and the first month’s rent of housing. The offered salary was $1,200. The only requirement was knowledge of the Turkish language, while Ukrainian or Russian was not mandatory. The user was curious if this could be a scam.
Almost every group member commented that it was a pure scam. «Don’t trust them. They deceive people. They claim they are looking for Turks to sell them stocks. Many things have happened because of them»,«Working in a call center in a city whose language you don’t know... Please, don’t need... Just think about who you’ll be communicating with in the call center», «Brother, it’s an illegal betting business», - users write in the comments.
Koç Serdem and Çağrı Öztürk: organizers of a Kiev fraud network that robbed thousands of people across Europe
(automatic translation by Google from Turkish)
There are several cases in the court registry regarding fraudulent call centers in Kyiv that also deceived, among others, EU citizens. One of them concerns a specific request from the German prosecutor’s office, which asked Ukrainian colleagues to assist in investigating the case of defrauded Europeans.
Koç Serdem and Çağrı Öztürk: organizers of a Kiev fraud network that robbed thousands of people across Europe
Another one mentions a request from Polish law enforcement, who also reached out to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office regarding call centers that, under the guise of investment investments, defrauded citizens of various countries.
In both cases, a fairly identical situation is described: «Service sellers create a false impression for potential customers that they can provide access to digital platforms for trading various financial instruments. The investor opens a trading account on the service provider’s website, which usually requires a cash contribution of about 250 euros. Subsequently, specially trained "trading experts" convince clients via phone, social networks, or email from call centers in foreign countries to invest large sums of money in trading so-called financial instruments. Payments are made through charges from bank credit cards or transfers to bank accounts. Accounts for depositing funds are provided by dummy companies, financial agencies, or payment service companies both domestically and abroad. The money is distributed worldwide through a complex money laundering network... Investments or placement of options and storage of clients’ money for return or payment of income are not made»,- the court ruling says.
It is noted that thousands of foreign citizens have suffered from the activities of these fraudsters.
It is obvious that the detained Turks, recruiting Turkish-speaking individuals from Ukraine for work, acted according to the same scheme. And that’s exactly why they invented fake names.
Recently, colleagues from «Bihus.Info» showed a report on the operation of similar call centers. Journalists managed to get a job in one of them and observed what was happening inside. They found out that special text templates exist for handling clients in any situation. Moreover, leaving such a job is not easy - as employers often threaten workers, resembling real intimidation.
Of the 2,000 similar offices operating in Kyiv, criminal cases are underway regarding only about 500. The situation is complicated by the fact that the owners of such call centers often have corrupt law enforcement personnel on their payroll, who turn a blind eye to fraud and allow them to continue deceiving people.
