LKA reports rise in financial fraud via WhatsApp and Telegram groups

The State Criminal Police Office (LKA) in Düsseldorf has released a new report on economic crime, highlighting a rise in financial fraud conducted through WhatsApp and Telegram chat groups.

Criminals use aggressive advertisements to lure victims into these groups, where they encounter fake financial professionals. To build trust, scammers include simulated participants in the chats who share fake success stories to convince victims to make what are described as ‘innovative investments.’ Once the money is lost, the victims are removed from the group.

In the previous year, police recorded 1,891 cases of economic crime involving the internet, accounting for more than a quarter of all recorded economic crimes. While economic crime represents only 0.51 percent of all crimes in North Rhine-Westphalia, the financial impact is significant, totaling approximately 469 million euros, or 25.2 percent of the total damages from all crimes in the region.