Almost 10,000 numbers disconnected due to cyber investment fraud

In the fight against international cyber investment fraud, investigators have shut down almost 10,000 phone numbers used by cyber criminals in the past three months. This means that the infrastructure of the alleged perpetrators has been significantly weakened, according to a statement.

The Cybercrime Center (CCZ) set up at the Karlsruhe Public Prosecutor's Office and the Baden-Württemberg State Criminal Police Office (LKA) have worked together with the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bafin), the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) and the Austrian Federal Criminal Police Office.

According to the information, the whole thing is in connection with “Operation Heracles”, which is part of a large-scale anti-fraud strategy. Since the beginning of this operation, 13,888 phone numbers have been switched off, of which 13,397 are German and 491 are Austrian.

The scam in question is called “cybertrading fraud”. According to information, it has developed into a mass phenomenon in recent years. Trusting customers are said to invest large sums of money on fraudulent internet platforms in the hope of a lucrative investment opportunity. However, the operators do not have permission from Bafin for financial or investment services or banking transactions.

In addition, so-called brokers from call centers abroad call the victims and encourage them to invest more money. Overall, it often seems so professional that the injured party doesn't notice for months that they are being cheated. But the money is usually completely lost.

According to previous information, the previously unknown perpetrators act internationally and with a division of labor. The authorities described the procedure as “Crime as a Service”. “In fact, the funds deposited will never be used for capital investment,” they warned.

The Federal Network Agency has taken regulatory measures against the responsible telecommunications companies, according to the statement. “The aim was to prevent perpetrators from improperly registering and using phone numbers.” The companies were asked to switch off phone numbers and adapt their registration processes. In addition, they were obliged to strengthen compliance controls of their sales partners and dealers and to subject them to more detailed checks in order to prevent further abuse.

In collaboration with the European police authority Europol and law enforcement authorities in other countries, the cybercrime experts from Baden-Württemberg have also taken well over 2,000 illegal domains offline in the past few months. The perpetrators used these to try to deceive consumers and lure them into making supposed investments on manipulated trading platforms.

The cyber investigators redirect the seized domains to a so-called confiscation page hosted by the LKA: Anyone who then accesses the internet address will receive a corresponding notification from the authorities.