By CARLO BOFFA, EU Correspondent
German authorities said on Friday that they had taken down thousands of local telephone numbers used to lure victims into fraudulent online investment schemes.
The action formed part of Operation Herkules, a large-scale anti-scam initiative aimed at disrupting the communication channels and digital infrastructure used by illegal trading platforms.
Authorities deactivated 9,304 German telephone numbers identified over the past three months. The numbers were used mainly to commit cyber investment fraud and related offences.
The perpetrators, accused of conspiracy to commit commercial gang fraud, remain unknown and at large.
The operation was led by several local law enforcement agencies, with support from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) and BaFin, the market regulator.
BNetzA said it had taken regulatory action against the telecommunications companies that supplied criminals with the phone numbers. The companies were ordered to deactivate the numbers and to increase scrutiny of their sales partners’ and resellers’ compliance controls.
BaFin said it was investigating unauthorised cyber trading activity under its own authority.
Since the start of Operation Herkules in June 2025, 13,888 mobile phone numbers have been taken down, of which 13,397 were German and 491 Austrian.
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