A major, long-term fraud involving fake lottery winnings has been dismantled at the request of the German authorities, with the support of Eurojust and Europol. During an action day in Austria, Czechia, Greece and Slovakia, three suspects were arrested. The fraud had been ongoing for at least 10 years, causing financial losses of at least EUR 8 million.
The main suspect behind the fraud scheme ran a network of call centres. The operators of these call centres contacted German citizens, informing them that they had won a lottery or taken part in a competition, but that their latest payments had not been received. The victims were unaware of their supposed participation, but some were persuaded to subscribe to magazines in order to claim their alleged prizes. In other cases, victims were told to make payments to terminate their lottery contracts. The suspects also impersonated bank employees and police officers to defraud their victims.
Based on the information received from the call centre operators, fraudulent invoices were sent, and victims subsequently lost an estimated EUR 8 million in total. The authorities are aware of 30 000 cases of fraud committed by the suspects.
During the action day coordinated at Eurojust, more than 35 places were searched of 39 suspects. Three suspects were arrested in Greece and Austria. Various mobile phones and data storage devices were seized and confiscated. To prepare for the actions in all countries concerned, Eurojust ensured that the authorities could exchange information and also assisted with the execution of European Arrest Warrants, European Investigation Orders and freezing certificates.
Europol supported the investigation by providing analytical support to help identify key targets and criminal connections across borders. The agency facilitated operational coordination and hosted a series of operational meetings to enable real-time intelligence sharing between the involved authorities. On the action day, Europol deployed a mobile office to the field, delivering on-the-spot analytical and forensic support to assist national teams with the execution of the operation.
Investigations continue into more than 170 individuals suspected of committing online fraud across Europe and money laundering.
The actions were carried out at the request of and by the following authorities:
- Germany: Public Prosecutor’s Office (PPO) Dresden; Saxony State Criminal Police Office, German FIU
- Austria: PPO Wels; PPO Korneuburg; PPO Vienna
- Czechia: Municipal PPO Prague; Police Regional Directorate Prague
- Greece: PPO of Appeals of Thrace; PPO Komotini; Court of 1st Instance of Komotini; PPO of Appeals of Thessaloniki; PPO Thessaloniki; Court of 1st Instance of Thessaloniki; PPO Veroia; Court of 1st Instance of Veroia ; Financial Crime Unit Thessaloniki (Subdirectorate of Organized Crime of Northern Greece); Department of Criminal Investigation and Prosecution of Komotini and of Alexandreia; Subdirectorate of Criminal Investigations of Northern Greece-Laboratory Unit
- Slovakia: PPO Trencin