A student from Augsburg is said to have cheated 84 bank customers from all over Germany for a total of around 413,000 euros. As the Bamberg Public Prosecutor’s Office reported on Tuesday, charges have been brought against the 27-year-old at the Augsburg Regional Court. The accused, who has been in custody since July 2021, admitted that he was involved in the crime. Other perpetrators have not yet been identified.
According to the indictment, the business administration student had gained access to the online banking of bank customers through so-called phishing SMS. Using a series of technical tricks, he is said to have read the data of the customers who reacted to the short messages and then transferred money from their accounts. He was charged with more than 80 counts of commercial computer fraud and data spying.
The district court of Augsburg must now examine the charges and decide whether there will be a trial. Drug offenses are also accused, as small amounts of narcotics were also found during the search of the apartment. The criminal police in Schwabach, Middle Franconia, together with the central office Cybercrime Bayern, which has been part of the Attorney General’s Office for seven years, tracked down the man.