Hungarian PM Orban: Online Scams Cost Families $22.5 Million a Year, Blames Ukraine-Based Crime Rings

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday that Hungarian families lose around 8 billion forints (about $22.5 million) every year to online financial scams. He claimed that most of these scams—about 80%—are linked to criminal groups operating out of Ukraine.

Speaking to state radio, Orban said, “Hungarian families lose about 8 billion forints every year due to online financial fraud. Thanks to increased support for the police, about 1.5 billion forints ($4.3 million) can be recovered.”

According to Orban, these cybercriminal groups are structured like mafias and work out of Ukraine. He mentioned that Hungarian police recently shut down a fake call center based in Ukraine that posed as a bank to trick Hungarian citizens.

Orban warned that if Ukraine becomes a member of the European Union, tackling these scams will become harder. “Everything will become easier for them. They’ll be treated like regular EU financial service providers, and stopping them will be much more difficult,” he said.

He also criticized the EU leadership, accusing Brussels of using every crisis as a reason to take power away from member countries. “They did it during the financial crisis, the migration crisis, COVID, and the energy crisis. Now they’re doing it during the war,” Orban said.

“The big question for the future is whether Brussels will use the Ukraine war to take even more money and decision-making power from EU member states,” he added.