German authorities reported on 25 September 2026 that they had disconnected 9,304 phone numbers linked to suspected fraud in the previous three months. The action targets the supply of telephone numbers and communications services to international fraud networks, described by German police as “crime as a service”.
The Bundesnetzagentur, Germany’s telecoms regulator, has also ordered the providers involved to tighten their KYC controls by changing number-registration procedures and strengthening compliance checks on distributors and dealers.
The action is part of Operation Herakles, a campaign led by cybercrime prosecutors in Karlsruhe and the Baden-Württemberg state criminal police to disrupt the websites and communications services used by fraud networks. BaFin, Germany’s financial regulator, has helped investigators identify the suspect telephone numbers.
The principal target is online investment fraud. Professional-looking trading websites display fictitious profits, whilst callers posing as financial advisers persuade victims to deposit money. When the victims try to withdraw their supposed returns, they cannot.
The criminals making these calls do not need to build their own telecoms operation. In its December 2025 account of Herakles, the state criminal police described telephone numbers and communications services being rented to international fraud networks and used at scale to commit crimes. The numbers identified included fixed-line, mobile and internet-based telephone services. Investigators also suspected their use in scams involving fake police officers and callers pretending to be relatives in distress.
