Germany, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo*: Operation “Pandora”, on large-scale investigation targeting a criminal network operating fraudulent call centers across the Western Balkans and the Middle East

2026 marks the 25^th anniversary of the Convention on Cybercrime (also known as the Budapest Convention ).

H ere are 25 selected real cases and operations against cybercrime that speak for themselves on the usefulness and relevance of the Convention and its framework in the daily work of criminal justice authorities worldwide, working on fighting against cybercrime and protecting you and your rights in cyberspace.

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25 cases

Back Germany, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo*: Operation “Pandora”, on large-scale investigation targeting a criminal network operating fraudulent call centers across the Western Balkans and the Middle East

Germany, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo*: Operation “Pandora”, on large-scale investigation targeting a criminal network operating fraudulent call centers across the Western Balkans and the Middle East

Operation “Pandora” represented a large-scale international investigation led by German authorities, supported by Europol and Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo*, targeting a criminal network operating fraudulent call centers across the Western Balkans and Middle East. The operation culminated on 18 April 2024 with coordinated raids at 12 call centres, the arrest of 21 suspects and the seizure of cash, assets and electronic evidence amounting to over EUR 1 million.

The criminal network conducted thousands of daily scam calls using various fraud schemes, including fake police officer calls, investment fraud, romance scams, debt collection fraud, online banking fraud and prepaid card fraud. Investigators linked the perpetrators to more than 28 000 scam calls within only 48 hours. The suspects used manipulation tactics and impersonation to deceive victims into transferring money or revealing sensitive financial information.

The investigation, coordinated by the Baden-Württemberg State Criminal Police Office with support from the German Federal Criminal Police Office and Europol, enabled authorities to secure over 1.3 million intercepted conversations and prevent estimated financial damages exceeding EUR 10 million. Europol supported the operation through analytical support, operational coordination and the deployment of specialists during the action day.

The most useful Budapest Convention articles/provisions in Operation "Pandora" were those on computer-related forgery (Article 7), computer-related fraud (Article 8), search and seizure of stored computer data (Article 19), international co-operation and mutual assistance (Articles 23 and 25), preservation and access to electronic evidence and traffic data (Articles 29–31).