AUTHORITIES in Germany, with the help of Europol, have dismantled the largest scam network so far operating through call centers in the countries of the Western Balkans and Lebanon, it was announced today. “Investigative authorities in Baden-Wuerttemberg have succeeded in uncovering the largest case of call center fraud in Europe,” said the interior minister of the federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Thomas Strobl.

According to his information, German investigative authorities, with the help of Europol and local police forces, carried out searches on April 18 in twelve call centers in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Lebanon, and arrested 20 people in the process. One of the call centers was located in Novi Pazar in Serbia.

Extorted money using various methods

As announced, call center employees called people in Germany pretending to be relatives, members of government services, or financial centers, and extorted money from the victims using various methods. The criminals asked the victims for money under the pretext of getting a family member out of trouble, or they threatened fines for alleged offenses the victims had committed.

The scams were uncovered after an employee of a bank noticed that a client wanted to transfer 100,000 euros to an unknown account abroad. Investigators recorded over one million calls since December, and fraud occurred in 6,000 cases, causing damage of more than 10 million euros.

“These criminal acts are particularly vile and ruthless because they play on people's fears and hardships,” Strobl said, announcing that the authorities would use “all means” available to the rule of law against the perpetrators. In Germany, cases of telephone fraud are regularly uncovered, with the victims most often being elderly people or people of migrant origin.

Source: index.hr