Blow to international cyber investment fraud

Joint press release by the General Public Prosecutor’s Office Karlsruhe, the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) of Baden-Württemberg, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bafin) and the Bundesnetzagentur

Year of issue 2026
Date of issue 2026.09.25

The CCZ at the General Public Prosecutor’s Office Karlsruhe and the Baden-Württemberg LKA, in close cooperation with the BKA, Bafin and the Bundesnetzagentur, and working closely with the Austrian BKA, have once again significantly weakened the infrastructure of suspected cyber criminals.

Over the past three months, Operation Heracles, as part of the large-scale anti-scam strategy of the CCZ and the LKA, succeeded in identifying and disconnecting 9,304 German telephone numbers that were used to commit fraud offences, in particular cyber trading fraud (online investment fraud). This brings the total to 13,888 telephone numbers that have been disconnected since the beginning of Operation Heracles, including 13,397 German numbers and 491 Austrian numbers. With regard to the Austrian telephone numbers identified, an ongoing close and trustful exchange is taking place with the Austrian BKA.

The measures were directed against perpetrators whose identities are not yet known on suspicion of conspiracy to commit commercial gang fraud. These measures were carried out under the leadership of the CCZ in close cooperation with the LKA and with the support of the BKA. The financial supervisory authority Bafin is investigating, under its own responsibility, illicit dealings in cyber trading. Bafin's investigative findings, which led to the identification of numerous suspicious telephone numbers, contributed significantly to the success of the measures.