ISTANBUL, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Turkish and German police conducted a joint operation against an organized fraud gang in both Turkey and Germany, local media reported on Wednesday.
The operation was launched upon the order of the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Istanbul after it received an intelligence report from the German Federal Criminal Police Service, the state-run TRT broadcaster said.
Police teams targeted 76 gang members in 36 locations in Turkey and 40 others in Germany, TRT noted.
According to the press report, the gang members were making phone calls to German citizens under the false guise of police officers and prosecutors.
So far, the members have taken up to 3 million euros (3.27 million U.S. dollars) from mostly elderly Germans, and transferred the money to Turkey via land and air route, it said.
Police teams caught several gang members, TRT said without revealing further details.
Video footage aired by Turkish TV channels showed an office of the gang in Istanbul resembling a call center environment, with laptops and headphones.
