crime
International operation against grandchild fraudsters
Older people in particular often fall victim to grandchild scammers. photo
© Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa
Investigators from Germany, Poland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and the European Police Authority Europol have arrested 27 grandchild fraudsters in two weeks.
Investigators are out of international operations Germany, Poland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and the European Police Authority Europol took action against so-called grandchild trick fraudsters. 27 suspects were arrested between November 27th and December 8th, the Berlin public prosecutor’s office announced on Tuesday. 74 acts with suspected damage of five million euros were prevented.
According to the information, around 1,000 emergency services were involved daily in the two-week operation, which was led by the Baden-Württemberg State Criminal Police Office (LKA) and coordinated by the LKA Berlin in coordination with the Berlin public prosecutor’s office.
According to the information, the suspects claimed on the phone, mostly to older people, that a family member had caused a car accident and that only immediate payment of a high bail amount could avoid incarceration.
The police have also observed that the suspects have recently been selecting their victims with the help of obituaries. From the reports they learn the names of the children of the deceased, who are then named as the alleged perpetrators in front of the surviving relatives. The suspects are taking advantage of the time of mourning.
Thanks to the cross-border cooperation of all the departments involved, it was possible to arrest not only suspects who were assigned to logistics and money collection, but also callers. The demolition of a call center in a suburb of Warsaw was cited as a major success. In Lippstadt in North Rhine-Westphalia, two suspects were arrested while handing over money.