By Tom Sims
WIESBADEN, Germany (Reuters) -An internationally coordinated action against alleged online fraud and money laundering networks that included German payment service providers resulted in 18 arrests, German authorities said on Wednesday.
Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office and prosecutors said that between 2016 and 2021, alleged criminals used credit card details for 4.3 million individuals from 193 countries in their scheme, racking up damages of more than 300 million euros.
The suspects siphoned funds via subscriptions to fake websites designed for streaming, dating and entertainment.
The defendants compromised four major German payment service providers in order to process payments, they said. The firms weren’t named.
Late on Tuesday, authorities disclosed they had searched buildings in Germany, Italy, Canada, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, the U.S. and Cyprus.
Prosecutors said they are focused on 44 suspects in Germany and other countries. Among them are members of the fraud network, employees of payment firms, and crime-as-a-service providers.
(Editing by Ludwig Burger)
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