“Forex traffic” in wholesale voice is a euphemism for investment-fraud boiler rooms. From Kyiv to SE Asia, these operations push fake CFDs, crypto, and “managed forex” to unsuspecting victims, then double-dip with “recovery” scams. This post exposes their playbook: how they operate, their telecom fingerprints, and how carriers can detect and block this traffic without tanking their network.
The Criminal Ecosystem Behind “Forex Traffic”
What victims hear: a polished “advisor” from a “regulated broker” promising funded trading accounts, “risk-free” bonuses, or VIP signals.
What’s actually sold: deposits into unlicensed trading platforms with fake dashboards, rigged spreads, and scripted retention tactics. Withdrawal requests trigger blocks or demands for “tax/AML/margin” fees—a textbook boiler-room playbook. These scams stem from well-documented hubs:
- Eastern Europe (Kyiv, Sofia, Tbilisi): Boiler rooms targeting EU retail, often linked to Milton Group diaspora or A.K. Group, with millions in victim losses.
- Turkey & Cyprus (Istanbul, Nicosia): Sophisticated fronts for EU-facing forex/CFD scams, leveraging legacy binary-options expertise.
- SE Asia Compounds (Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos): Industrial-scale “pig-butchering” operations blending romance and “crypto/forex trading” narratives, fueled by forced labor in Sihanoukville, Phnom Penh, Myawaddy, and Golden Triangle SEZ.
- Emerging Trend: AI-driven call scripting (e.g., natural language models for dynamic “closer” scripts) is increasing call efficiency, especially in SE Asia and Eastern Europe.
The “Chargeback/Recovery” Pass: Double-Dipping Victims
After draining victims, the same or affiliated crews re-target them as “asset recovery experts,” “forensic chargeback services,” or “law firm partners.” They promise to recover losses for upfront fees (KYC, escrow, “crypto tracing”). Nothing is recovered. Data shows repeat-victimization rates of 15–25% among high-loss investment cohorts, particularly elderly and middle-aged targets.
How it works technically: Scammers own the lead graph (CRM + call outcomes), tagging “high liquidity/compliant” victims for re-targeting. They pivot brands, domains, and rosters to pitch “recovery” services. Payments flow via USDT, wire transfers to shell consultancies, or “legal retainers.” Collaboration matrices reveal shared platforms, scripts, and mule rails between investment and recovery arms.
Telecom-Layer Fingerprints of Scam Traffic
For carriers, aggregators, or SBC operators, “forex/recovery” traffic leaves distinct traces:
Signaling & Routing
- CLI Spoofing: International CLIs with local A-numbers spoofed into target geos (e.g., EU-facing traffic exiting via London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam hubs from Eastern Europe or Gulf staging).
- Origination Patterns: Distributed SIM farms and VoIP gateways, consolidating toward key metros (London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam for EU; Dubai, Tel Aviv, Istanbul for EMEA).
- DID Churn: Aggressive rotation across 10k–100k DID pools for mid-tier networks, often sourced from gray-market resellers.
Session Behavior
- Call Patterns: High CPS bursts during opener hours (09:00–13:00 target country time), tapering to long “closer” sessions (ACD 6–15 min+).
- ASR Bifurcation: Low ASR on openers (spray-and-qualify, high abandons), high ASR/high ACD on scheduled callbacks (closers, “compliance calls”).
- Codecs: G.711 for “closer” calls; Opus/WebRTC for offshore fronts, increasingly common in SE Asia.
- New Trend: AI-driven voice bots for initial “opener” calls, reducing human agent costs and scaling spray campaigns.
Numbering & Brand Hygiene
- Vanity CLIs: Numbers mimicking bank/broker call-backs, often residential DIDs to evade enterprise analytics.
- Brand Churn: New domains and email MX every 4–8 weeks; voice footprints lag, with same DID ranges resurfacing across “broker” → “recovery” cycles.
- Red Flag: Rapid brand/DID churn paired with consistent call patterns across campaigns.
Geo Patterns
- EU Retail: Sofia, Kyiv, Tbilisi origination; Istanbul, Nicosia admin; Baltic/Caucasus banking rails.
- MENA/EMEA: Dubai as money/traffic broker; Tel Aviv, Cyprus for legacy expertise.
- APAC Pig-Butchering: Sihanoukville, Phnom Penh, Myawaddy, Golden Triangle SEZ for mass-scale “romance→investment” funnels.
Known Scam Clusters
- Milton Group (Kyiv → diaspora): EU-facing bogus trading platforms; archetypal boiler-room stack.
- Israeli Binary-Options Diaspora: Shifted to crypto/forex post-bans; active in Sofia, Bucharest, Belgrade, Cyprus.
- A.K. Group (Tbilisi): Linked to 6,100+ EU victims, sustained forex/CFD targeting.
- SE Asia Compounds: Industrialized “romance→crypto/forex” scams with trafficked labor, scaling via AI scripting.
Money Laundering Tactics
- Crypto Rails: USDT/Bitcoin with mixers and chain-hops; dominant in Eastern Europe and SE Asia.
- Hawala & Mules: India/Pakistan networks for investment and government-impersonation proceeds.
- Front Consultancies: “Legal services” shells for recovery/chargeback invoices, often tied to Baltic or Cyprus entities.
- New Trend: Stablecoin-based “escrow” payments for recovery scams, leveraging DeFi platforms to obscure trails.
Why Carriers Fall for the “Forex” Label
It’s simple: scam traffic moves minutes. Operators frame it as “financial services outbound,” backed by payment receipts and predictable CPS. Resellers without robust fraud controls take the margin and ignore the red flags. But victim impact data tells the real story: high average losses, near-zero recovery, and rampant repeat-victimization.
Carrier Playbook: Detection & Containment
Protect your infrastructure and reputation with these steps:
- Campaign Cadence Profiling
Track opener vs. closer windows by target timezone. Flag routes with divergent ASR/ACD cohorts (morning spray vs. afternoon “compliance calls”). - Number-Pool Forensics
Build heuristics for rapid DID churn paired with brand churn. Tag ranges, not brands, as they resurface across “broker → recovery” arcs. - Gateway-Metro Correlation
Weight risk on LDN/FRA/AMS/TLV/DXB/IST egresses when paired with investment lexicon in call recordings (where lawful) or agent notes. Content-light telemetry + metro pairing is highly predictive. - Payment-Rail Intelligence
Cross-reference USDT retainer/recovery invoices tied to your DIDs with allocation logs to choke dirty ranges. - Abuse-Resistant Commercial Terms
- Prepaid with claw-back on confirmed fraud.
- CPS masks on opener windows; rate cards penalizing long “closer” sessions on gray routes.
- KYC with teeth: legal entity, beneficial owners, website, payment rails, and proof of regulatory status for “broker/trading” clients.
- US Domestic Only: Attestation & Analytics
Enforce A-level attestation for financial-service caller IDs, paired with content-agnostic analytics (no PII). - Sunset Protocol
Retire dirty ranges for 6–12 months to avoid downstream complaints.
Red Flags at Sales Intake
- “New broker expanding EU retail; need 50–200 CPS and 30k DIDs across DE/ES/IT.” No regulatory docs, only “introducing broker agreements.”
- “Client verification and withdrawal compliance calls; need verified CLI.” Classic “closer” language.
- “Post-incident recovery services for scammed clients.” Same crew, second brand.
- Traffic tests show low morning ASR, high afternoon ACD, and “compliance/tax” semantics.
If two or more red flags appear, decline or sandbox with punitive pricing and tight CPS masks.
City Proof Points
- Kyiv, Sofia, Tbilisi: Documented forex/crypto boiler rooms (Milton/A.K. networks) targeting EU victims.
- Istanbul, Nicosia, Tel Aviv: Forex/binary-options lineage powering CFD scams.
- SE Asia (Sihanoukville, Phnom Penh, Myawaddy, GTSEZ): Industrialized “romance→crypto/forex” funnels with AI-enhanced scripting.
Bottom Line for Carriers
- Call It What It Is: “Forex traffic” is investment-fraud voice. “Recovery” calls are phase two of the same con.
- Protect Your Brand: Dirty DIDs tied to takedowns or tracebacks will tank enterprise contracts.
- Act Smart: Use cadence profiling, number forensics, and strict KYC to choke scam traffic without breaking your network.
Stop routing scam traffic. Your AUP should say “no fraud,” so put “forex profile” on the deny list unless it’s verifiably clean.