Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior in a caretaker capacity Ivica Dačić stated that the international operation "Silentium", in which Serbia played an active role, has dismantled an infrastructure linked to more than 18,000 cases of fraud.
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Serbia’s active role in combating cross-border high-tech crime
Belgrade,
16 October 2026
Dačić emphasised that this operation underscores the importance of international cooperation and highlights Serbia’s contribution to combating cross-border high-tech crime.
He specified that on 7 October in Smederevo, police officers, working in coordination with the competent Public Prosecutor's Office and German investigative authorities, arrested two men, aged 26 and 27, on which occasion electronic equipment, suspected of having been used to commit criminal offences, was seized.
The Deputy Prime Minister explained that the arrested individuals are suspected of providing Voice over IP (VoIP) services, which enabled perpetrators of fraud to manipulate caller ID information, posing as bank employees or police officers, in order to deceive citizens and obtain unlawful financial gain.
According to German investigative authorities, at least 600,000 calls were made using this infrastructure, and the suspects are linked to facilitating over 18,000 cases of fraud, Dačić stated and added that, to date, losses amounting to approximately €764,000 have been confirmed in 70 of these cases, while the revenue generated from providing these services is estimated at over €1.6 million.
According to him, the operation was carried out as part of the EMPACT cycle, within an initiative led by Serbia aimed at combating fraud perpetrated via call centres.
He added that, as part of related operations, additional searches were conducted in Germany and domains, servers, Telegram accounts and other technical infrastructure belonging to the criminal platform were seized and shut down.
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