Germany arrests 18 in international crackdown on suspected online fraud

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.