German prosecutors on Tuesday reported the arrest of eight people accused of swindling at least 1.6 million euros ($2.1 million) in a telephone fraud scheme spanning several European countries.

Sixty-one raids, involving about 1,000 police officers, were conducted in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, the Frankfurt prosecutor's office said.

The kingpin of the network, alleged to have defrauded at least 100,000 people -- most of them elderly -- was 31 years old. The other suspects are aged between 26 and 58.

The victims were contacted from call centres in the Kosovo capital Pristina and the Bulgarian capital Sofia and told they had won free fuel and cosmetic coupons.

After a barrage of questions and partial recordings to indicate the consent of the respondents to make a token payment on the telephone, the money raised was then sent to a firm controlled by the gang.