Europe is being rocked by a massive mobile phone scam of truly incredible proportions. The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) has uncovered an organised group that was selling used phones as brand new to customers across the European Union. It was certainly not just a few dozen or hundreds of devices. According to investigators, more than a million phones could have been sold in this way, with the total damage caused to consumers reaching at least 300 million euros, or roughly 7,3 billion crowns. In addition, Czech and Slovak security forces have also been involved in the extensive international police operation.
You might be interested in
Used phones passed off as new
The entire scam was supposed to work in a rather sophisticated way, according to the EPPO. According to the investigators' findings so far, the organized group specifically assembled mobile phones from used components in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, and then had the devices cleaned, packaged and modified so that they appeared brand new at first glance. The phones prepared in this way traveled to the Netherlands, from where they were transported to warehouses in Germany. They then reached customers across the European Union via online marketplaces. The customers were then unknowingly paid for a used phone, even though they were buying it brand new.
Investigators have not yet disclosed the specific brands or models of phones involved in the scam, so it is questionable whether this was also the case. iPhone, or have the fraudsters targeted other brands? However, given the popularity iPhone on the European market and at the same time their prices, we in the editorial office would not be at all surprised if these phones were the primary target. In any case, given the scope of the entire fraud, this is undoubtedly an extremely serious matter that can significantly shake customers' trust in online retailers.
ProHowever, the scam was far from over with the new phones. According to the EPPO, the organized group also used a network of front companies in Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.carsku, through which it manipulated the payment of VAT. Since 2018, it has been illegally using a special taxation regime, in which tax is paid only on the trade mark-up, not on the entire sales price. The catch, however, is that this regime is intended only for specific cases of resale of used goods, not for phones sold as new. European countries are thus supposed to have lost more than 30 million euros in taxes.
You might be interested in
Raids took place in 19 countries. Czechs and Slovaks also participated
Given the monstrous dimensions of the entire fraud, it is probably not surprising that the police intervention was also truly massive. According to the press release, approximately 1770 police, customs and tax officials were involved in the operation, codenamed Troy, and carried out more than 160 searches and other actions in 19 countries. Seven suspects were arrested in Austria, Germany and Spain, and according to investigators, two alleged leaders of the entire organization were also among those detained.
Interestingly, the Czech Police and the Slovak Office for the Fight against Organized Crime also participated in the international cooperation. The EPPO confirms the raids in 19 countries, including Slovakia, but the Czech Republic is not on the list of countries where the searches took place. However, the EPPO explicitly names Czech police officers among the authorities that participated in the operation.
The whole case was triggered by a notification from the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). However, the investigation is still ongoing and it will be interesting to see whether the specific sellers who offered the phones to end customers can be traced.
