In the fight against investment fraudsters, “grandtrick” criminals and fake police officers, the investigators say they have scored a major blow. The cybercrime” title=”… | Definition, Statistics, & Examples | Britannica”>Baden-Württemberg Cybercrime Center set up at the Karlsruhe Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Baden-Württemberg State Criminal Police Office (LKA) and the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bafin) jointly announced that the infrastructure of the suspected cyber criminals had been significantly weakened.
The investigators therefore targeted phone numbers that are said to be related to fraudulent online platforms. By December 5th, more than 3,500 numbers, mostly German, had been identified through which phone calls were allegedly made to victims. These landline, cell phone and Internet numbers have now been switched off by the responsible providers. In addition, a good 350 Austrian numbers were taken off the network in coordination with the Viennese authorities.
“Criminal service providers” in the sights
In online investment fraud, the usually unknown perpetrators act internationally and with a division of labor. The aim is to lure as many investors as possible into the trap. Telephone numbers are therefore often rented to fraud networks and used en masse to commit crimes. The investigating authorities refer to the procedure as “Crime as a Service” – i.e. criminal services. The numbers that have now been blocked are also suspected of being used for scams such as “grandchild tricks” and “fake police officers”.
The goal of Operation Heracles is to destroy the technical infrastructure that cyber fraudsters use to carry out their crimes in the long term and thus protect consumers in Germany. In June and October of this year, more than 2,200 websites were shut down as part of the same operation that were supposed to lure people into making investments on manipulated trading platforms.
Germany should become uneconomical for fraudsters
According to Attorney General Jürgen Gremmelmaier, the number shutdown prevented thousands of potential fraud attempts. This actively deprives cybercriminals of the basis for their actions. The President of the Baden-Württemberg State Criminal Police Office, Andreas Stenger, emphasized the strategic effect of the operation: “In order to counteract this, the perpetrators have to make an immense organizational effort, which is associated with considerable costs,” he said. Germany should become uneconomical and therefore unattractive for such services.
