Overview

• Authorities allege the suspect from Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis coordinated an organized, commercial fraud ring active since mid-2022.
• Investigators attribute 169 alleged victims and losses exceeding €1.2 million across Germany.
• The man was arrested on December 4, 2024, in the Ruhr area and has remained in pretrial detention, with prosecutors saying he is largely confessing.
• The group allegedly obtained online-banking credentials through fake shops and phishing texts, then impersonated bank staff by phone to elicit TAN codes and pushTAN actions.
• Prosecutors say digital debit cards were set up on perpetrators’ devices to fund purchases including smartphones, gift cards, and gold, and co-defendants have already been convicted.