Wetterau Police Dismantle Large Smishing Network: Seven Arrests!

Wetterau Police Dismantle Large Smishing Network: Seven Arrests!

A major move by the Wetterau police has uncovered a suspected fraud ring that has been perfidiously obtaining bank details from unsuspecting victims using fake SMS messages, also known as smishing. The investigators arrested seven suspects who form the group of perpetrators and who caused a lot of damage with their machinations. This reports hessenschau.de.

More than 60 officers were deployed during the searches that took place on July 15, 2025 in the cities of Friedberg, Niddatal and Hanau. Not only was evidence seized, but a small amount of narcotics as well as brass knuckles and a throwing knife were also found. Six of the people arrested have now been released, while a 23-year-old from Wetterau is in custody, reports ffh.de.

The fraudster's scam

The scammers have mastered adapting their tactics. By sending fake SMS messages claiming to come from a bank and requesting an update of bank details, they lure their victims to fake websites that are confusingly similar to those of real banks. On these fraudulent homepages, unsuspecting users reveal their sensitive data such as bank details and passwords. Another dirty trick used by perpetrators is to contact victims by phone and pretend to be bank employees to ask for personal TANs - a practice that is very effective and often leads to serious financial losses. According to the police, the damage to the victims amounts to five to six-figure amounts hessenschau.de reported.

The large number of at least 20 successful smishing attacks across Germany underlines the extent of the criminal activity that took place over a long period of time. This shows once again how important awareness of cybercrime is.

Cybercrime in general

A current survey by the BSI (Federal Office for Information Security) shows that around 7% of respondents were affected by cybercrime in the past 12 months. The most common crime that affects people is online shopping fraud, followed by phishing and misuse of account details. Given the estimated financial damage, it is alarming that at the same time the idea of ​​protection is dwindling; More than a quarter of those surveyed are not informed at all about cybersecurity, according to bsi.bund.de.

The responsible authorities recommend using digital offerings consciously, as the use of security measures such as antivirus programs or secure passwords has decreased in recent years. Cybercrime is a ubiquitous issue that is unfortunately increasing in our digitalized world.