The accused and the accusation : Victims cheated out of millions with fake SMS
A sensational case was heard before the Nuremberg-Fürth regional court on June 12, 2023: six defendants from Berlin, Lower Saxony and Essen are said to have stolen around 1.4 million euros through online fraud. The group of perpetrators, consisting of five men aged 20, 22, 22, 27 and 30 and a 22-year-old woman, are primarily accused of gang and commercial computer fraud and forgery.
The Bavarian judiciary writes:
Period of offense: April 2021 - March 2022
Accusation: The defendants are said to have jointly lured the injured parties to phishing websites using phishing SMS messages with varying frequency of offenses and made them enter their access data.
The defendants are said to have tried to obtain a total of around 2,831,671 euros through this. Due to chargebacks, missing TANs etc., there is said to have been “only” damage amounting to 1,388,320 euros. Continuation dates: June 27th, June 28th, June 29th, July 4th, July 13th, each at 9:45 a.m.,
The sophisticated scam with the fake SMS
A sophisticated phishing tactic was used to specifically lure customers of Volksbanks and savings banks into a trap. They sent SMS messages suggesting to recipients that their security certificate had expired and could be renewed via an attached link. The link, which bore the name of the affected bank, appeared credible and trustworthy to customers.
Mimikama's warning about fake SMS and phishing
At this point it should be noted again that we at Mimikama repeatedly warn against such phishing methods. It is important to remain skeptical and never enter personal or banking information on unverified websites, even if they appear official.
Here are two examples of such fake SMS:
Note: We cannot say whether these are also connected to the named defendants. These screenshots are from other fact checks and serve as examples only:
The fate of the victims
The unsuspecting customers were directed to the phishing page and asked to enter their online banking details. A total of 407 customers fell victim to this scam. 40 of them became suspicious when they were also asked to enter a transaction number (TAN). These customers did not comply with the request and were thus able to prevent their accounts from being plundered.
The devastating effects of fraud
But the other customers also revealed their TANs and enabled the fraudsters to transfer a total of 1,388,320.84 euros to their own accounts. But that wasn't the end of their criminal ambitions - the gang tried to steal a total of over 2.8 million euros, but couldn't reach the entire goal.
An internal fraud detection system at the banks ultimately stopped the illegal operation. During the trial, one of the defendants confessed to the allegations, another admitted partial guilt. Six trial days are scheduled until mid-July, during which all defendants will be heard.
Source: Bavarian Justice
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )