Fake shop: When only hot air is delivered – Image: fizkes|Shutterstock.com
Solar Cybercrime
Cybercrime specialists from the Schwabach Criminal Police Inspectorate and the Central Office for Cybercrime Bavaria have succeeded in striking a blow against suspected fake shop operators – two suspects are in custody.
Several fake shops, numerous victims, damages in the six-figure range – the Schwabach Criminal Police, together with the Bavarian Central Office for Cybercrime, have dealt a blow to the operators of fake online shops. Two suspects are in custody.
Since July 2022, the cybercrime specialists of the Schwabach Criminal Police and the Bavarian Central Office for Cybercrime have been conducting an investigation against the operators of fraudulent online shops (so-called "fake shops"). The investigation was initiated by a criminal complaint filed by a victim from Schwabach.
Following extensive technical investigations, two men, aged 21 and 22, from the Herford district in East Westphalia have been identified as being strongly suspected of creating and launching several fake online shops. They are also alleged to have misused the data of real companies by imitating their websites and using these fake online shops for their fraudulent purposes.
The suspects allegedly posed as dealers of high-quality photovoltaic and solar modules. The defrauded customers paid in advance without ever receiving the ordered products.
Specifically, the following fake shops were involved:
• prestige-solar.de
• solar-boorberg.de
• delta-solartechnik.de
• huppermans-photovoltaik.de
• eletrox-solar.at
• NTG-solar.de
The covert investigations conducted over several months by the Schwabach Criminal Police and the ZCB led to the two suspects who allegedly operated the fake online shops and thus caused financial damage to the deceived customers amounting to at least around 140,000 EUR.
On March 14, 2023, officers from the Schwabach Criminal Police, accompanied by a public prosecutor from the Central Criminal Investigation Department (ZCB), searched the apartments of the suspects in the Herford district (North Rhine-Westphalia). The large-scale search operation also involved officers from the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office, the Herford District Police Authority, and members of the Special Operations Command of the Bielefeld Police Headquarters.
As a result of the searches, numerous pieces of IT evidence, such as mobile phones and laptops, as well as written documents, were seized. Furthermore, officers executed previously issued arrest warrants against the 21- and 22-year-old suspects, who are now in pretrial detention.
The investigations by the Central Cybercrime Unit (ZCB) and the cybercrime unit of the Schwabach Criminal Police – including inquiries into possible additional accomplices – are ongoing. The suspects are accused of, among other things, multiple counts of commercial fraud. The law stipulates a prison sentence of six months to ten years for each offense.
How can I recognize fake shops and what can I do about them?
If you want to avoid falling victim to a fake online shop, you should familiarize yourself with some characteristics and methods for recognizing and avoiding counterfeit online stores. Here are some steps you can take to identify fake shops and protect yourself:
Check the website's URL. Some fake shops use URLs similar to legitimate ones, but with slight variations. For example, the letter "o" might be replaced with a zero, or the shop's name might be slightly altered. A quick check of the website address can help confirm the shop's authenticity.
Look for reviews and experiences from other buyers. If the online shop is reputable, you should generally be able to find customer reviews and testimonials from other buyers. If such information is missing or unusually positive, you should be cautious.
Check the legal notice (Impressum) of the online shop. The legal notice provides information about who is responsible for the shop. In addition to a telephone number, an email address, and a postal address, it should also list a VAT identification number and a commercial register number. Verify the authenticity of these numbers by entering them at handelsregister.de or ust-id-pruefen.de.
Pay attention to pricing and sales strategies. Another indicator of a potential fake shop is unrealistically low prices, especially compared to other shops. If a price sounds too good to be true, it often is.
Use fake shop finder tools. Several online tools are now available that can help you identify fake shops. These include, for example, the fake shop finder from consumer protection agencies or Trusted Shops.
If you suspect you have made a purchase from a fake online shop, you should immediately contact your bank or financial service provider and report the incident.
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