Germany and Austria crack down on cyber-trading scams and NFC fraud

German and Austrian authorities are intensifying efforts to combat large-scale cybercrime and investment fraud. Under the joint initiative known as Operation Herakles, investigators have disabled 13,888 fraudulent telephone numbers used in international online investment scams. Of these, 13,397 are assigned to Germany and 491 to Austria. The operation involves multiple agencies, including the Karlsruhe Cybercrime Center, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), and the Austrian Federal Criminal Office, targeting criminal gangs that use a ‘Crime-as-a-Service’ model to rent telephone blocks for fraudulent activities.

In a separate but related development, Erste Bank und Sparkassen has issued a warning regarding a sophisticated NFC-based fraud targeting Android users. Scammers contact victims claiming to report suspicious transactions and direct them via WhatsApp to install a fake ‘security app.’ Once installed, the app facilitates an NFC-relay attack, where the smartphone acts as a bridge to transmit real-time communication from the victim's contactless card to a remote payment terminal or ATM. This method allows criminals to conduct unauthorized transactions without ever physically possessing the victim's card.