European police forces dismantle major credit card fraud network

Europol announced on November 5, 2025, that an international police coalition had dismantled a large-scale credit card fraud network. The operation led to more than 60 searches and 18 arrests, mainly in Germany, but also in the United States, Canada, Singapore, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands.

Between 2016 and 2021, members of the network created nearly 19 million fake subscriptions on various websites using stolen credit card data from more than 4.3 million victims worldwide. These websites, not indexed by search engines, charged victims’ accounts with small recurring payments using vague billing descriptions.

The network is believed to have used the infrastructure of four licensed German payment service providers to launder the illicit transactions, amounting to several hundred million euros. According to investigators, the criminals allegedly gained access to these companies with the paid assistance of six former employees—including executives, compliance officers, and risk managers.