Whatsapp scam: Police bust gang of fraudsters
A gang of fraudsters is said to have scammed 370,000 euros via WhatsApp and phone calls. Nuremberg police arrested the suspected head of the gang.
(Bild: pollizei.bayern.de)
The Nuremberg police have reported a successful investigation into a gang of fraudsters who went on a nationwide spree via WhatsApp in Germany. The group of at least six suspects is said to have caused damage totaling 370,000 euros in 76 cases with their scams, the Bavarian police announced. An arrest warrant has been issued for a 21-year-old man from Nuremberg, who is considered by the police to be the head of the gang and is in custody.
Among other things, the gang is said to have sent more than 16,000 text messages within ten days with the following content: "Hello mom, hello dad, my cell phone is broken. This is my new number [...]". These messages were intended to persuade the recipients to get in touch with the fake child via WhatsApp and then pay bills for the supposed child. The fraudsters claimed that this was currently not possible as they could not access online banking with the defective cell phone.
They promise potential victims that they will get their money back immediately. If they agree, they are given the account details by previously recruited "financial agents". The perpetrators repeat this until the victims become suspicious and stop making further transfers, according to the police.
Financial agents
The gang operated a network of at least 50 such financial agents. These agents are often recruited by fraudsters via social networks and paid to make their legal bank accounts available for the crimes. "To do this, they often hand over their bank cards and PIN to the gang."
The financial agents are also part of the second scam used by the gang. Here, fraudsters posing as fake bank employees called potential victims whose online banking access data they had received in advance through phishing. During the calls, they asked fraud victims to release payments initiated by the perpetrators using one of their TANs. In some cases, the perpetrators are said to have succeeded in gaining access to the TAN procedure during the phone call. This gave them unrestricted access to the victim's account and enabled them to transfer money to the financial agents' accounts, from which the gang withdrew the money in cash or transferred it to another account.
The police are investigating other suspected members of the fraud gang. Criminal proceedings have been initiated against financial agents on suspicion of money laundering.
(anw)
