A group of ten fraudsters stole almost 3 million euros from more than 40,000 people by collecting donations for fake charities.
According to police, this is the largest case of trust-based fraud in Czech history. All accused face up to 10 years in prison.
The criminals set up fake charitable organizations, opened call centers, and gradually hired staff to recruit donors. Police spokesperson Eva Kropáčová shared the details with ČTK today.
The case was first reported by the police last year, but since then, the scale of the fraud has grown. The number of victims has doubled, the total damages have increased by 1 million euros, and another suspect has been added to the case. Police have identified the victims, so there is no need for affected individuals to contact them, Kropáčová noted.
The fraudulent activities began in 2020. Initially, the perpetrators used a contact list obtained by one of them at a previous job to make calls themselves. Over time, they expanded their operations, hiring more people and using a database containing approximately one million phone numbers. Most of the funds collected were kept by the fraudsters, with only a small portion going toward actual charitable causes.
