Crime & Cybercrime: From shock calls to a cyber network causing €260 million in damages

Current proceedings, judgments and investigations — August 2026

An overview of the most significant criminal law developments in Germany: from international cyber fraud networks to organized telephone fraud rings and legally binding judgments in cold case proceedings.

Chapter 1

News overview

Cyber fraud & digital crime

International networks, phishing, covert subscriptions, bank robbery verdicts

Telephone fraud & grandparent scam

Shock call gangs, convictions, extraditions, police operations

Further key procedures

Terrorism, drug smuggling, CSAM investigations, cold case, Federal Court of Justice decision

Cyber fraud — Koblenz

Cyber fraud: Over €260 million in damages — Koblenz

The Koblenz Public Prosecutor's Office has filed charges against nine members of an international network. According to the investigation, the accused obtained the card data of over [number missing] people through phishing and manipulated deceptive websites. 3 million cardholders from 193 countries. Furthermore, they are expected to be more than 18 million hidden subscriptions The case has been completed — resulting in total damages exceeding 260 million euros. Six of the nine defendants are currently in pretrial detention. The trial is considered one of the largest cyber fraud cases in the history of the German justice system.

Estimated total damage

Determined financial damage to the international network

Affected cardholders

Compromised in 193 countries worldwide

Hidden subscriptions

Completed without the victims' knowledge

People in pre-trial detention

Of nine network members charged

The dimensions of the Koblenz case illustrate the global scaling of modern cybercrime: perpetrator structures operate across national borders, dividing labor and using industrialized methods for the mass compromise of payment data.

Insider crime — Berlin

Former police officer convicted of 68 fraud cases — Berlin

The Berlin Regional Court has sentenced a 37-year-old former police officer to 4 years and 10 months imprisonment convicted. The charges included 59 counts of commercial fraud and 9 counts of computer fraud.

The convicted man placed fake apartment advertisements, obtained personal data from prospective tenants, and misused this data to open accounts, divert wage payments, and commit insurance fraud. The court ordered the confiscation of approximately 330,000 euros The verdict is not yet legally binding.

Overview of crime patterns

Fake apartment listings
Theft of personal applicant data
Opening external accounts
Redirection of salary payments
Insurance fraud
Confiscation: ~€330,000

Chapter 2

Telephone fraud & shock calls

Shock call gangs specifically target elderly and vulnerable people. The perpetrators impersonate relatives in distress or government officials and exert emotional pressure to obtain cash payments or valuables. The following cases document recent investigative successes.

Shock call verdicts — Frankfurt

Prison sentences for shock call gang — Frankfurt

Defendant 1 — 6 years

Leading gang member; active role in making shock calls to family members by feigning emergencies.

Defendant 2 — 6 years

Also sentenced to six years in prison; responsible for communicating with victims and coordinating money collectors.

Defendant 3 — 4 years 6 months

Lesser involvement in the crime compared to the main perpetrators; nevertheless, fully attributable to the gang structure.

The gang used emotional manipulation techniques to put pressure on elderly people and entice them to hand over cash or valuables — a phenomenon widespread throughout Germany.

Delivery — Offenbach/Romania

Extradition from Romania — Suspects of shock phone calls

A 39-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman from Offenbach, Germany, were arrested in Romania and extradited to Germany. They are suspected of being part of an international group that pressured victims with fabricated traffic accidents to extort money. The case underscores the cross-border nature of organized telephone fraud networks.

Raid — Halle/Saalekreis

Arrests after senior citizen fraud — Halle

As part of an investigation into scams involving individuals impersonating police officers and bank employees, police searched several properties in Halle and the Saalekreis district. Among the seven suspects, aged... 15 to 24 years Five people were arrested—four of them on outstanding warrants. The case highlights the increasingly young perpetrators in organized fraud rings.

Chapter 3 — Further Priority Procedures

Break-in at approximately 3,000 bank safe deposit boxes — Gelsenkirchen

The December robbery of a savings bank branch in Gelsenkirchen is developing into extensive civil proceedings: In August 2026, victims had already filed a lawsuit. 18 civil lawsuits A complaint has been filed against the credit institution. 3,000 lockers The bank was forcibly opened – an unprecedented incident of this magnitude in the German banking sector. The focus now is on the bank's liability to the affected customers and the amount of potential compensation payments.

The actual crime occurred in December 2025. The civil and liability scandal only fully unfolded from August 2026 onwards.

Organized crime

Verdict: 7+ tons of cannabis smuggled — Berlin/Brandenburg

✔️Main perpetrator — 15 years, 6 months.

48 years old; sentenced to the highest total prison term as the head of the network.

✔️Co-defendant — 8 y. 9 m.

Leading role in the logistics and transport of the drug quantity.

✔️Another perpetrator — 6 years, 6 months.

Subordinate function within the smuggling organization.

The case concerns the import and distribution of more than seven tons of cannabis by a supra-regional network with ties to Berlin and Brandenburg. The verdict is not yet legally binding; appeals are possible.

terrorism

Verdicts against far-right terrorist group "Last Wave of Defense"„

Convictions in Hamburg

Eight defendants received prison sentences between 1.5 and 5 years. According to the court and the public prosecutor's office, the group planned violent attacks on refugees and political opponents.

Charges:

Membership in a terrorist organization
Attempted manslaughter or murder
Arson offenses

Classification

This trial is part of a series of investigations into right-wing extremist networks operating on the basis of so-called "prepper" and coup ideology. The Hamburg verdicts send a clear signal regarding the prosecution of ideologically motivated violence—even in the preparatory stage.

Law enforcement agencies emphasize the importance of early intervention in relevant network structures.

CSAM investigations — Halle

Major raid against online sexual violence against children — Halle

Investigators from the Halle police and the Saalekreis district searched a total of 35 objects As part of an investigation against 36 suspects accused of distributing and possessing material related to sexual violence against children (CSAM), numerous data storage devices were seized during the searches.

✔️35 search locations

Coordinated operation in Halle and the Saalekreis district against 36 suspects

✔️9 cases of child endangerment

Cases of immediate danger to children identified during the searches

✔️Additional violations

Securing evidence related to weapons and drug offenses as a secondary finding

Federal Court of Justice (BGH) decision

Federal Court of Justice upholds life sentence — Munich Cold Case 2000

The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) issued a ruling on August 20, 2026 The life sentence in the 2000 Munich murder case of a mother of four has been definitively upheld. The convicted man's appeal was rejected in its entirety – the verdict is therefore legally binding.

2000

Homicide in Munich; mother of four children as victim

First instance

Sentencing to life imprisonment by the competent regional court

revision

Appeal filed by the defense; review by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH).

August 20, 2026

Federal Court of Justice rejects appeal — judgment final and enforceable

The conclusion of this case after more than two decades underlines the persistence of German criminal prosecution, even in long-past serious crimes.

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