Fake police calls: Berlin investigators shut down phone platform used by fraudsters
Raids in Berlin, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia: a service allegedly let fraudsters call with spoofed numbers – at least 600,000 call attempts, more than 18,000 cases. Two arrests in Serbia.
Symbolic image · Photo: Auge24.eu / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Berlin prosecutors and the state criminal police office (LKA) on Tuesday moved against an alleged internet telephony provider that fraudsters are said to have used to make calls with spoofed numbers, mainly posing as bank employees or police officers. Investigators said it was the largest service of its kind in the German-speaking region. Domains, servers, Telegram accounts and other technical infrastructure were seized and shut down.
The Berlin investigation targets five suspects aged 23 to 41 who are accused of aiding computer fraud in more than 18,000 cases. On Tuesday, the homes of a 23-year-old and a 41-year-old were searched in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and in Hesse. On Oct. 7, Serbian authorities together with Berlin investigators had already searched the homes of three suspects in Serbia; two men aged 26 and 27 were detained on existing arrest warrants and are to be transferred to Germany.
At least 600,000 call attempts allegedly ran through the infrastructure, earning the suspects more than 1.6 million euros. Losses of around 764,000 euros have so far been documented in 70 cases. Separately, prosecutors in Cologne had the homes of 14 further suspects searched in North Rhine-Westphalia. The investigation has been running since February 2025; all suspects are presumed innocent.