Combating the phenomenon of Shell Game Fraud

The phenomenon of shell game fraud has been established in Berlin for three decades as a underestimated niche phenomenon. The fact is, however, that this crime is also characterised and carried out by organised, cross-border, habitual and notorious criminal groups of offenders and therefore falls under the heading of organised crime.

Shell game scams mainly take place in public spaces with high crowd density in European metropolises in France, Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain and also in Berlin. Shell player groups are particularly present in so-called “tourist hotspots” and deceive victims into believing that they have a real chance of winning through their brazen and extremely professional approach. But the reality is: you always lose!

In Germany, the criminal gangs seem to be unimpressed by law enforcement and legal consequences, especially in the tourist hotspots of Berlin's city centre. The crimes registered in Berlin are divided into 25% property offences and 75% fraud offences.

The focal point investigations in the shell game fraud sub-project focus on a European approach in order to be able to counter the criminal phenomenon more effectively.

The following project-related steps are planned for this purpose:

• Use of new surveillance tactics with covert special technology
• Improved preservation of evidence through optoelectronic tools (drones)
• Workshops and international networking conferences with police experts from other affected cities in EU Member States and in the UK
• Prevention measures through publicly visualised and radio-based spots
• Restoring public safety and confidence in state control to prevent private financial loss

Finally, the coordinated measures of the EU police authorities in the metropolises are intended to create maximum frustration for offenders, making it impossible for the highly mobile commercial and habitual working groups to continue their criminal activity and finally closing the niche for the phenomenon.