Operation Heracles: Authorities shut down thousands of scammer numbers

German and Austrian authorities have carried out large-scale attacks on the technical infrastructure of suspected investment fraudsters. Within the past three months, 9,304 German phone numbers were identified and switched off as part of “Operation Heracles,” the Karlsruhe Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Baden-Württemberg State Criminal Police Office, the Bafin financial regulator and the Federal Network Agency announced on Friday.

According to previous findings, the telephone numbers were primarily used for “cyber trading fraud”. Authorities are using this to describe a fraudulent scam on the Internet with fake trading platforms. According to the information, this form of online fraud has developed into a mass phenomenon in recent years - with the number of cases constantly increasing.

Guiding customers are said to invest large sums of money on fraudulent internet platforms, trusting in a lucrative investment opportunity. In fact, the amounts deposited are never invested in the financial markets. They flow directly into foreign accounts or organized crime crypto wallets. For those affected, this usually means a total loss of their investments.

Since the start of “Operation Heracles,” the authorities have blocked a total of 13,888 phone numbers. These included 13,397 German and 491 Austrian numbers. The investigation is directed against previously unknown perpetrators. You are suspected of “conspiring to commit commercial gang fraud”. The authorities did not provide any information about possible arrests or searches. There was also no information on the number of victims or the amount of damage.

The current campaign is not a premiere. In June and October 2025, the investigators took more than 2,200 domains offline. Presumably fraudulent trading platforms could be reached via these internet addresses. In December, the authorities took action against the perpetrators' telephone contact channels: They switched off around 3,500 numbers that suspected fraudsters had used to call their victims.

Attorney General Jürgen Gremmelmaier explained at the time that the switched off numbers represented thousands of potential fraud attempts. The aim of “Operation Heracles” is to make Germany “extremely difficult terrain” for groups of perpetrators who use modern telecommunications.

Now the authorities have significantly expanded their approach. What is particularly new is the greater involvement of the Federal Network Agency. It used its statutory supervisory powers to take action against telecommunications companies through whose systems the suspicious numbers had been registered.

The providers had to switch off telephone numbers and change their registration procedures. The specifications extend to sales. The companies were obliged to “strengthen the compliance controls of their sales partners and dealers” and to “subject them to a more detailed review”.

According to the investigators' findings, internationally organized networks with a division of labor are behind the calls. The authorities described the procedure as “Crime as a Service”.

The fraudsters also look for new victims via social networks, fake news sites and dating portals. In advertisements they sometimes use images or names of prominent people to supposedly advertise lucrative investments in cryptocurrencies. Interested parties are supposed to leave their telephone number and are then called by the wrong investment advisors.

WhatsApp and Telegram groups are also increasingly being used: perpetrators lure their victims with aggressive advertisements into chat groups, where fictitious chat participants post success stories in order to convince the victims of alleged investments. “In fact, the funds deposited will never be used for capital investment,” warn the authorities.