bulgariancitizenship.eu: scam investigation
Take around 800 EUR from you, sign a contract under a fake director's name, then block your number. That's the documented business model of bulgariancitizenship.eu. The person behind it, Alexander Buryak, has at least two criminal convictions for organized fraud. No legal entity was found in Bulgaria's Commercial Register. No office exists at the stated Sofia address.
Who is bulgariancitizenship.eu and what do they claim to do
Services: Bulgarian citizenship by descent, ancestry document research, application file preparation
Stated address: 50 Vitosha Blvd, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria (no physical office confirmed at this location)
Founded: 2021 (claimed by the site; not confirmed by any official registry)
Alleged organizer: Alexander Buryak (uses aliases Maxim, Boris, Nikolai)
Contract director: "Todor Novakov" (multiple sources say this name is fabricated)
Phone: +46737416017 (Swedish number, not Bulgarian)
Email: None listed (and none found)
Website: bulgariancitizenship.eu
Typical fee: ~800 EUR, transferred to personal bank accounts
Legal entity in BRRA: Not found
Key fact: The phone number belongs to Sweden (+46), not Bulgaria (+359). The company has no registered legal entity. The person named as director in client contracts is reportedly a fictional character. Buryak uses at least five different identities when contacting potential clients.
Trust Score
Based on 1/5 rating from documented complaints, registry checks, and criminal records
Who's behind bulgariancitizenship.eu: checking the paperwork
Legal entity status
A search of Bulgaria's Commercial Register (BRRA) returns no company named "Bulgarian Citizenship" and no entity linked to the domain bulgariancitizenship.eu. There is no licensed immigration consultant or law firm operating under this name in Bulgaria. Without a registered entity, there is no legal counterparty to sue if things go wrong. And things go wrong with near-certainty here.
Domain registration
The domain bulgariancitizenship.eu is a .eu TLD, governed by EURid. Full WHOIS data is available at whois.com. The registrant data is not publicly disclosed, which is common for .eu domains, but also convenient for operators who don't want to be traced. You can view archived snapshots of the site at Web Archive.
The address: 50 Vitosha Blvd, Sofia
Vitosha Boulevard 50 is a real address in central Sofia. But real estate and a registered company are two different things. Clients who tried to locate the office physically or through Bulgarian business directories found nothing. This address appears to function as a mail-drop or virtual address, used purely to create the impression of a legitimate Sofia-based firm.
Alexander Buryak: the criminal record
Buryak has a documented history of organized fraud. Court records from Novokuznetsk (published 2011) show he was part of a group that stole 52 million rubles through auto-loan fraud. The group used luxury vehicles as props to obtain bank loans and never repaid them. Co-defendants received 6-7 years in prison; Buryak received a suspended sentence at that time.
A separate case involved fraud in an especially large amount committed within an organized group (quoted directly from a judicial ruling involving the same person). He reportedly continued operating scam networks even while in detention during later investigations. At least one client review states: "He's doing time and running the con from inside." Whether accurate or not, it tells you something about the scale of the operation.
Known associates
- Todor Novakov - named as company director in client contracts; multiple victims say this person does not exist
- Konstantin Nikolov - listed as director of BG Consult, whose account details were used to collect client payments
- Sergey Shkortko - personal bank cards belonging to this name were used to receive prepayments
- Veronica - operated as a client-facing consultant for the operation
- Denis Voronenkov and Bella Keselman - promoted the company's services across social media
The scam network
Bulgarian Citizenship is one node in a larger cluster of fraudulent sites. Domains associated with the same operation include: eurojobmarket.com, euro-rabota.com, evro-rabota.com, rabota-euro.com, europeanvisa.eu, 2passporta.com, lexioconsult.com, and others. When one domain gets exposed, another goes up. The business model doesn't change, just the URL.
You can find references to several of these domains and their registration data at otzyvov.net, telltrue.net, and zarobitchany.org. Also see BBB and Trustpilot for platform-level searches.
bulgariancitizenship.eu risk analysis: 5 things to know before you pay
| Area | Risk | What the investigation found | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | HIGH | Clients report paying ~800 EUR upfront, transferred to personal bank cards (BG Consult or named individuals), not to any registered company account. No receipts from a legal entity are issued. | You will likely lose the full amount. Chargeback is difficult once the money hits a personal account. No refunds have been reported by any source reviewed. |
| Contract | HIGH | A written contract is provided, but it's signed under the name "Todor Novakov" as director. This person is widely reported as fictional. A contract with a non-existent signatory is effectively unenforceable in any jurisdiction. | You can't sue a person who doesn't exist. The contract is designed to create the illusion of legitimacy, not to protect you legally. |
| Timelines | HIGH | The company promises Bulgarian citizenship in approximately 2 weeks. Bulgaria's actual naturalization process requires 5+ years of legal residency. Even fast-track processes for EU investment citizenship take months and cost 500,000+ EUR minimum. | The promised timeline is physically impossible under Bulgarian law. This promise exists only to convince you to pay quickly before you do any research. |
| Document risks | HIGH | Multiple complaints describe the company issuing forged Bulgarian ancestry certificates. Presenting forged documents at Bulgarian or EU consulates is a criminal offense that can result in a permanent entry ban. You also hand over passport copies, which can be misused in identity fraud. | If you use fabricated ancestry documents in an official application, you face visa bans and potential prosecution, on top of the financial loss. |
| Refunds | HIGH | Zero refunds confirmed across all reviewed sources. After payment, clients are blocked on WhatsApp, Telegram, and Viber. Phone numbers are changed. The operation disappears and reappears under a new domain. | Do not expect to recover money through direct contact. Your only options are a police report, bank chargeback (if applicable), or civil action in Bulgaria, all of which face major obstacles given the absence of a legal entity. |
bulgariancitizenship.eu: red flags, yellow flags, and what little green we could find
The research for this report found no genuine positive attributes. The "green" items below are surface-level observations, each with a major caveat attached. They're listed here for completeness.
| ✅ | A website exists with stated pricing. The site does at least mention what services are offered and implies a cost. For many scam operations, even this much isn't provided. That said: stating a price doesn't make the service real. |
| ✅ | A written contract is given to clients. The company provides a document before taking money. The contract names a director and sets out terms. Unfortunately, that director reportedly doesn't exist, which makes the contract legally worthless. But at least you have something to show police when you file a report. |
| ✅ | The service targets a real demand. Bulgarian citizenship by descent is a legitimate legal pathway that exists under Bulgarian law. The fact that Buryak chose this specific niche suggests he at least identified a real service people need, even if he has no intention of delivering it. |
| ⚠️ | Swedish phone number (+46) for a Bulgarian company. Unusual, but technically someone can run a Bulgarian business from Sweden with a Swedish SIM. Not automatic proof of fraud, but it creates jurisdictional confusion that's convenient if things go wrong. |
| ⚠️ | No email address listed on the site. Legitimate businesses have a contact email. No email means you can't create a paper trail before handing over money. This also means the company has no formal complaint channel. |
| ⚠️ | No social media presence whatsoever. A legitimate immigration company founded in 2021 would typically have at least a Facebook page or LinkedIn profile. Nothing found on any platform. All contact goes through private messenger apps, which can be deleted instantly. |
| ❌ | No registered legal entity in Bulgaria's Commercial Register (BRRA). There is simply no company to enter a contract with. Verify at BRRA |
| ❌ | Fake director name "Todor Novakov" in contracts. Victims consistently report this person cannot be located in Bulgarian business or personal registries. Signing a contract on behalf of a fictional person is fraud by definition. |
| ❌ | Founder Alexander Buryak has two documented criminal convictions for organized fraud. One involved 52 million rubles in stolen auto-loan funds. He reportedly continued running scams from inside a detention facility. |
| ❌ | Payments go to personal bank cards, not a company account. Clients report being asked to transfer money to BG Consult or to named individuals. No company account, no receipt from a registered entity, no paper trail that holds up legally. |
| ❌ | Clients are blocked on all messengers after payment. This is the defining characteristic of the scheme: pay, get blocked, never hear from them again. Documented across dozens of victim accounts at otzyvov.net and telltrue.net. |
| ❌ | Forged ancestry documents issued. The company provides fake certificates of Bulgarian ancestry. Using these in consulate applications puts you at risk of a permanent entry ban to the EU, regardless of who deceived you. |
| ❌ | Part of a 12+ domain fraud network. Bulgarian Citizenship is one brand in a larger operation that includes eurojobmarket.com, europeanvisa.eu, 2passporta.com, and others. All follow the same prepayment-and-block pattern. See zarobitchany.org for the network map. |
| ❌ | At least 27 police reports filed against the network organizers. That number comes from public reporting; the actual count may be higher. The police reports haven't yet resulted in widely reported arrests specifically tied to this domain, but they reflect the scale of documented harm. |
| ❌ | Promises 2-week Bulgarian citizenship. This is physically impossible under Bulgarian law. Naturalization takes a minimum of 5 years of legal residency. The claim exists solely to pressure victims into paying before they research the actual process. |
What the investigation actually turned up
The scheme, step by step
You find the site through a Google search or a forum post. The site looks professional enough. It promises to handle your Bulgarian citizenship application fast, citing ancestry pathways that do genuinely exist in Bulgarian law. You make contact via the phone number listed.
Someone answers. They're friendly, knowledgeable-sounding, and reassuring. They quote you a fee of around 800 EUR. They send a contract. The contract has a director's name on it ("Todor Novakov"), a Sofia address, and terms that look reasonable. You transfer the money to an account you're told belongs to "BG Consult" or to a named representative.
Then nothing. Messages go unread. Calls go unanswered. Your number gets blocked. The "Todor Novakov" in your contract doesn't appear in any Bulgarian business registry. The address has no office. The phone number switches to a different person if you call from a new number.
That's the whole operation. There's no back-office doing paperwork, no contacts at the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice, no genealogy researchers. The site is a front. The contract is a prop. The money is gone.
What real Bulgarian citizenship looks like
For comparison: getting Bulgarian citizenship legitimately through descent requires proving genealogical ties through Bulgarian state archives and a formal application to the Ministry of Justice. The process takes months. Naturalization after residence requires 5 years of legal stay in Bulgaria. Investment citizenship starts at 500,000 EUR and still takes months through proper channels.
None of that costs 800 EUR. And none of it happens in 2 weeks. If someone tells you differently, they're taking your money.
What clients actually said
A few direct quotes from verified complaint threads:
"100% scammers. They take money, don't submit any documents, then cut all contact. The director Todor Novakov is a made-up person." (otzyvov.net)
"We paid 800 EUR for an invitation to Sweden, two people. He promised to handle it. Then he blocked us." (zarobitchany.org)
"He's doing time right now and still running this from inside." (forum thread, 2023)
That last one is worth sitting with. Even if it's an exaggeration, the volume of near-identical complaints spanning multiple years across multiple domains points to a single persistent operation that hasn't been stopped.
bulgariancitizenship.eu vs legitimate alternatives: a direct comparison
The column for the company under review is highlighted. best worst mixed
| Parameter | bulgariancitizenship.eu ★ | Licensed Sofia Law Firm | DIY (Official Gov. Process) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total cost | ~800 EUR lost worst | 1,500-5,000 EUR (real service) | 200-600 EUR (government fees only) cheapest |
| Realistic timeline | "2 weeks" (impossible) false | 6-18 months (honest) | 6-24 months (official process) |
| Legal entity | None registered none | Registered, bar-licensed verified | Bulgarian Ministry of Justice official |
| Documents provided | Forged ancestry certificates criminal risk | Genuine legal filings real | Official government documents real |
| Guarantees | "100% success" (never honored) fake | Honest case assessment realistic | No guarantee, official criteria apply |
| Refund policy | None. Clients are blocked zero | Per signed retainer agreement | Government fees generally non-refundable |
| Contact after payment | Blocked on all apps gone | Regular case updates available | Online case tracking via gov portal |
Note: "Licensed Sofia Law Firm" is a generic reference to reputable Bulgarian attorneys registered with the Bulgarian Bar Association. Always verify a lawyer's bar registration at bar.bg before hiring.
What to check before paying any immigration service (especially this one)
- Registry check: Search the company name in the Bulgarian Commercial Register at brra.bg. If you find nothing, stop. No entity means no contract, no recourse, and likely no service.
- Payment destination: Refuse any request to wire money to a personal bank card or to an individual's name rather than a company account. Legitimate businesses accept payment to a registered company. "We use a representative" is a common excuse here. It's not a legitimate explanation.
- Phone country code: Match the phone number prefix to the company's stated country. +46 is Sweden. +359 is Bulgaria. A Bulgarian citizenship company with a Swedish number and no Bulgarian number is hiding something.
- Email address: Demand a company email (not a Gmail or Hotmail account) before sending any documents or money. No official email means no formal communication trail. That's by design.
- Director verification: Ask for the full name of the company's registered director and confirm it at brra.bg. If the person in your contract (like "Todor Novakov") doesn't appear in the registry, your contract is with a ghost.
- Timeline reality check: Bulgarian naturalization takes a minimum of 5 years of legal residency. If you don't have that history in Bulgaria, any promise of citizenship through other means (descent, investment) still takes months, not days. Cross-check whatever timeline you're given with the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice website.
- Document check: Never submit documents to a government office that were prepared by an unverified third party. Forged ancestry documents can result in a permanent EU entry ban, separate from any financial loss.
- Search before paying: Run "[company name] scam", "[company name] reviews", and "[company name] complaints" in both English and Russian before you commit. For bulgariancitizenship.eu, the results are unambiguous.
Frequently asked questions about bulgariancitizenship.eu
Is bulgariancitizenship.eu a scam?
Yes. Every available data point, including registry checks, criminal records, client complaints, and anti-fraud forums, points to bulgariancitizenship.eu being a fraudulent operation. There is no registered legal entity, the director name in contracts is reportedly fake, and clients consistently report paying and then being blocked. The founder, Alexander Buryak, has at least two criminal convictions for organized fraud.
Who is Alexander Buryak and why does it matter?
Alexander Buryak is the documented organizer behind bulgariancitizenship.eu and a network of at least 12 related scam domains. Court records from Novokuznetsk (2011) place him in a group that stole 52 million rubles through auto-loan fraud. A second conviction involved large-scale organized fraud. He uses multiple aliases when contacting clients: Maxim, Boris, Nikolai, Artem. His known criminal history isn't a side detail. It's the operating context for everything this company does.
Can anyone actually get Bulgarian citizenship in 2 weeks?
No. Bulgarian naturalization requires at least 5 years of continuous legal residency. Citizenship through descent requires documented genealogical proof and takes months even in straightforward cases. Investment-based citizenship starts at 500,000 EUR and still runs several months through the official process. Any company promising a passport in 2 weeks is lying to get your money before you look any of this up.
I already paid bulgariancitizenship.eu. What should I do now?
File a police report in your home country immediately, including all transaction records, chat screenshots, and any contracts received. Contact your bank right away and request a chargeback if you paid by card. You can also file a complaint with Interpol. The odds of recovering money are low, but your report adds to the evidence base that investigators in Bulgaria and other countries are building.
Is the office at 50 Vitosha Blvd, Sofia real?
The street address exists. But no company matching the name or domain of bulgariancitizenship.eu has been confirmed at that location. Multiple sources describe it as a virtual or mail-drop address. Clients who searched for the office found nothing. The address appears on the site solely to create the impression of a physical presence in a legitimate Sofia business district.
Why does a Bulgarian company use a Swedish phone number (+46)?
+46737416017 is a Swedish mobile number. A legitimately operating Bulgarian immigration firm would use a Bulgarian number (+359). The Swedish number creates jurisdictional confusion: Bulgarian police are less likely to prioritize a complaint about a Swedish number, and Swedish authorities have no jurisdiction over an alleged Bulgarian operation. It's a deliberate tactic to make the operation harder to pursue legally. The number also reportedly changes frequently, adding another layer of difficulty for anyone trying to trace the operation.
Where can I leave a review about bulgariancitizenship.eu?
You can read and post reviews about bulgariancitizenship.eu on migration.us.com's partner platform at proverj.com. Detailed accounts with dates, payment amounts, and communication screenshots are especially useful for researchers and investigators. Your review can prevent someone else from losing 800 EUR.
Expert verdict: Yury Mosha
I've been in the US immigration business since 2011, and before that I spent years watching how people from the former Soviet Union get exploited specifically when they're looking for a way out of their country. What I see with bulgariancitizenship.eu is not new. It's a pattern I've watched repeat for over a decade, just with a fresh domain name.
The "citizenship by descent" angle is clever, I'll give Buryak that. Bulgaria is in the EU. Bulgarian ancestry is actually a legitimate pathway for some people. So the pitch is believable. You're not being sold something ridiculous. You're being sold something real that this person simply isn't delivering.
What concerns me most here isn't just the fraud itself. It's the fake documents. If you paid 800 EUR and got blocked, you lost 800 EUR. That's painful but survivable. But if the company also sent you forged Bulgarian ancestry certificates and you submitted those to a consulate, you now have a flag on your file with the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice. That can follow you for years. It can affect entirely legitimate future visa applications to EU countries. You paid to make your situation worse.
The Swedish phone number is a tell I see often. It's not incidental. Cross-border phone routing is one of the first steps in setting up a fraud operation that's hard to pursue legally. The moment you see a Bulgarian company with a Swedish phone and no email, ask yourself: why would they make it this hard to reach them on paper?
On the legal entity side: this is the simplest check in the world. The Bulgarian BRRA is free, it's online, and it takes 30 seconds. No company named Bulgarian Citizenship. No entity linked to this domain. A legitimate immigration firm would be registered. It would have a bar number or a licensed attorney on staff. None of that exists here.
My overall assessment: bulgariancitizenship.eu is one node in a documented criminal network run by a person with multiple fraud convictions. There is no service being delivered, no office to visit, no lawyer to call. If you've already paid, file the police report and contact your bank today. If you haven't paid yet, step away entirely.
Final rating: 1 out of 5. This isn't a company with problems. It's a fraud operation with a website. The difference matters: a company with problems can sometimes be pushed to fix them. A fraud operation is designed from the start to take your money and disappear.
Don't get burned by bulgariancitizenship.eu
The investigation is clear. But don't just take our word for it. Read what people who paid this company have to say directly, before you make any decision.
Read real reviews about bulgariancitizenship.eu