Shafaq News/ Several European countries have witnessed hundreds of fraud cases targeting elderly men and women in what has become known as the “grandparent scam”, leading to the arrest of dozens of suspects.

According to available information, perpetrators, often based in Poland, typically call elderly individuals and pretend to be family members—usually grandparent—claiming they caused a car accident. They demand immediate payment of a large bail sum to avoid imprisonment.

In a joint statement, German prosecutors and Berlin police announced that “authorities launched an operation in the city of Kassel between November 25 and December 6, arresting 20 people in the act.”

According to the Criminal Police Office in the German state of Lower Saxony, “the prevented scams in that state alone could have resulted in damages of approximately €1.5 million.”

Investigators from several countries across Europe and the European police agency Europol thwarted 391 fraud attempts of this kind, preventing damages estimated at nearly €5 million. Data shows that up to 1,000 security personnel participated in these two-week-long operations.

In Poland, investigators raided three call centers—two of them located in an apartment and a hotel room in Warsaw. Six suspects described as "highly professional" were arrested. This marked the third cross-border operation targeting this type of fraud.