Authorities Dismanteled Major Credit Card Fraud Operation Impacting 4.3 Million Cardholders

International law enforcement agencies have taken down three sophisticated fraud and money laundering networks in a coordinated operation that uncovered one of the largest credit card fraud schemes in recent history.

The operation, codenamed “Chargeback,” revealed criminal activity affecting over 4.3 million cardholders across 193 countries, with total damages exceeding EUR 300 million and attempted fraud exceeding EUR 750 million.

On November 4, 2025, authorities executed a massive enforcement action involving more than 60 house searches and 18 arrests across multiple countries.

Coordinated International Action Targets Criminal Networks

The operation was spearheaded by Germany’s Cybercrime Department at the General Prosecutor’s Office in Koblenz and the Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt), which had been investigating these networks since December 2020.

Europol provided critical support throughout the investigation, coordinating efforts to apprehend 44 suspects from Germany and other nations.

In Germany, over 250 officers from various agencies, including the Federal Criminal Police Office, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), and tax investigation units, conducted 29 premises searches across multiple states.

Five arrest warrants were executed, and authorities secured assets worth over EUR 35 million in Luxembourg and Germany.

The arrested individuals include alleged network operators, executives from German payment service providers, intermediaries, crime-as-a-service providers, and an independent risk manager.

Between 2016 and 2021, the criminal networks allegedly created approximately 19 million fake online subscriptions using stolen credit card information.

These fraudulent subscriptions were disguised as legitimate services for pornography, dating, and streaming websites that were professionally designed to avoid detection by search engines.

The websites could be accessed only via direct URLs or specific links, making them difficult for victims to discover.

The suspects purposely kept monthly charges around EUR 50 with vague transaction descriptions, making it challenging for cardholders to identify unauthorized charges on their statements.

This strategy allowed the fraud to continue undetected for extended periods, maximizing the criminals’ profits while minimizing the risk of discovery.

Six suspects, including executives and compliance officers, allegedly cheated with the fraud networks by providing access to payment infrastructure from four major German payment service providers in exchange for fees.

To further conceal their activities, the criminals established numerous shell companies, primarily registered in the United Kingdom and Cyprus, obtained through crime-as-a-service providers who supplied complete corporate structures with fake directors and fraudulent Know-Your-Customer documents.

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