Overview
- Police in Spain and Bavaria shut down a rented Madrid apartment that served as a call center for phone scams against older people in Germany.
- Six suspects were arrested, four in Spain and two in Germany, and all are in provisional prison on organized crime and continued fraud charges.
- Scammers posed first as a distraught relative and then as police or court staff, pushing victims to pay about €90,000 in supposed bail using cash, jewelry, or gold.
- The group placed up to a hundred calls a day, rotated SIM cards and phones to thwart tracing, and arranged pickups near German courthouses to look legitimate.
- Investigators have identified 14 victims and about €1.26 million in losses so far, recovered 920 grams of gold and luxury watches in Germany, and say the case remains open.