German police arrest 18 suspects in international fake subscription fraud causing €300 million in damages across 193 countries, including North Korea.
FRANKFURT: German authorities have arrested 18 suspects in a major crackdown on international credit card fraud and money laundering rings.
The criminal networks caused more than €300 million in damages through fraudulent online subscription charges at bogus websites.
Germany’s Federal Criminal Police and Koblenz prosecutors revealed the sophisticated operation involved 19 million fake subscriptions.
The professionally designed websites mimicked pornography, video streaming and dating services to appear legitimate.
Approximately 4.3 million bank cards from 193 countries were charged fraudulently in the elaborate scheme.
Koblenz prosecutor Harald Kruse expressed surprise that North Korea was among the affected countries.
“I’ve just been told that North Korea is among these countries,” Kruse told reporters.
“I didn’t even know they had credit cards there, I must honestly admit.”
The investigation targeted 44 suspects from Germany, the United Kingdom, Latvia and six other nations.
Police conducted coordinated raids across Germany, Italy, Canada and six additional countries in “Operation Chargeback”.
BKA Vice President Martina Link said criminals used phishing attacks and data leaks to steal bank details between 2016 and 2021.
Hundreds of shell companies registered primarily in the UK and Cyprus facilitated the fraudulent websites and revenue.
“In total, approximately 2,000 fake websites were identified during the investigation,” Link confirmed.
The fraudsters used deliberately small, obscurely labeled charges to conceal unauthorized withdrawals from victims.
Suspects successfully laundered about €150 million through numerous German bank accounts.
Four major German payment providers had employees accused of collaborating with the criminal networks.
Kruse said these employees compromised “a portion of the German financial system” through their actions.
German investigators collaborated with authorities in nine other countries including the United Kingdom and United States.
The international cooperation was crucial in dismantling the sophisticated criminal operation spanning multiple continents. – AFP
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