During a joint operation, German and Polish investigators arrested a total of 20 so-called grandchildren tricksters.
As the Berlin police and public prosecutor's office jointly announced on Wednesday, almost a hundred acts with damage totaling 3.4 million euros could be prevented in Germany, Sweden and Austria.
The suspects used the scam of the "traffic accident legend": In a shock call, they told the person called that a family member had caused a car accident.
In order to avoid imprisonment, high bail must now be posted, they claimed.
Investigations by the Berlin State Criminal Police Office and the public prosecutor's office in cooperation with Europol, the Polish police and the police and public prosecutor's offices in Hamburg, Cologne and Osnabrück led to the arrests.
According to the information, the investigators arrested two suspects in Poland and 18 others in Germany.
In Berlin alone, the officials caught four people who collected the money between the ages of 19 and 53 and two women between the ages of 45 and 52.
In addition to cash, extensive evidence such as mobile phones and laptops was also confiscated during the searches.
Their evaluation as well as the further investigations continued.