Investigations are ongoing
Fraud via WhatsApp: Bundesliga clubs alerted
December 31, 2025 – 6:48 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
They pose as club bosses and want to cheat players’ agents out of large sums of money – and are apparently presenting German professional football with a major challenge. A report reveals details.
Several German professional clubs are currently confronted with a new form of fraud. This is reported by “Bild” on Wednesday and writes about details of the new scam: Unknown perpetrators pose as club officials, contact player agents, feign interest in signing a player – and then make demands for money in order to be able to carry out the supposed transfer. The investigative authorities are involved and the first cases have already been documented.
Holstein Kiel, Darmstadt 98 and SV Elversberg, among others, are said to have been the target of such attempts several times in the past few months. According to the report, around 50 cases were registered at one club within three months.
Specifically, according to “Bild”, the fraud goes like this: The perpetrators are supposed to use prepaid phones and then create business accounts on Whatsapp that are similar to the real profiles of sports directors from the Bundesliga or 2nd league. The fake accounts would be supplemented by email addresses that deceptively resemble those of real personalities. The aim of making contact is then player advisors who are shown to be interested in one of their clients.
If an alleged agreement is reached, the next step will be initiated. The fraudsters are then supposed to demand advance payments from the consultants – for example for alleged medical examinations in Germany. In some cases, fake passports are sent as proof of identity.
It was only in December that a consultant was supposed to transfer 8,500 euros to the fraudsters for an alleged medical check of one of his players at the University Hospital in Hamburg. When the advisor asked for proof of identity as security, he promptly received a photo of a passport – according to the report, an easily recognizable forgery with two different names of German club officials on the document. Nevertheless, the advisor ultimately transferred the 8,500 euros – and will probably never see the money again.
Overall, the scam is reminiscent of so-called “love scamming”, in which emotional closeness is built up via digital communication channels in order to later enforce demands for money. In football, this approach has now apparently been developed into “transfer scamming”.
According to “Bild”, both the DFL and the players’ union are now alarmed. The investigation was carried out by state criminal investigation offices and public prosecutors. However, the chances of solving the problem are slim because the perpetrators are probably based in non-European countries.