German authorities on Oct. 3, 2025 seized 1,406 fraudulent cryptocurrency trading domains as part of “Operation Heracles”, in an action coordinated with other German agencies, Europol and Bulgarian law enforcement, according to a press release by BaFin, Germany’s financial regulatory authority.
BaFin said roughly 866,000 attempts to access the seized domains were recorded within ten days of the takedown, and that visitors attempting to reach the sites are now presented with a warning banner instead of the professional-looking trading platforms they expected to find.
According to the article, criminals lure victims to convincing fake trading platforms that promise high returns on cryptocurrency, stocks and other commodities, then show apparent profits without any real trading taking place. The sites were described as a means to extract funds, and the article said call centres were used to pressure victims into making further deposits.
BaFin warned the seized sites specifically targeted German-speaking individuals and said the fraudsters had executed the scams professionally. Authorities said they believe the operators are using artificial intelligence to mass-produce websites with detailed market data, customer testimonials and even mobile apps.
The operation follows a June initiative in which authorities blocked about 900 domains; since then, the article said, there have been some 5.6 million attempts by users to access blocked sites, underscoring the scale of online investment fraud.
Authorities advised potential investors to watch for common warning signs, including returns that seem too good to be true, high-pressure sales tactics demanding quick decisions, requests for increasingly large deposits and difficulty withdrawing funds, and cautioned that by the time victims realise they have been scammed the money is often laundered and beyond reach.