Telephone scammers are becoming more and more sophisticated – and at the same time more unscrupulous. They have just visited an 81-year-old man from Aubing for the second time, from whom they had already ripped off around half a million euros last August. As alleged police officers, they persuaded him to transfer the money to an account abroad. These days the gang contacted the senior again – and stole another 35,000 euros.
As the police reported on Thursday, a caller pretended to be a public prosecutor and told the 81-year-old that he could get his money back – but he would have to pay taxes for it. The old man then transferred around 20,000 euros to an account that the perpetrator gave him. He then demanded a processing fee, whereupon the Aubinger transferred another five-figure amount. A few days later, the perpetrator called again and demanded further fees, this time he was satisfied with 5,000 euros. The 81-year-old transferred the money again.
It was only after a tip from the Berlin State Criminal Police Office, which was obviously on the trail of the fraudsters, that the Munich officials became aware of the case. On Wednesday they drove past the injured party and stopped further payments.
The organized fraudsters, who mostly operate out of real call centers, benefit not only from the good faith of their victims, but also from ever-new methods. The Bavarian Ministry of the Interior wants to provide information about the most common ones in a nationwide prevention week; The Munich police also provided information in this context these days. On Thursday she invited passers-by at Münchner Freiheit for coffee to inform them. At the nearby Leopold Pharmacy, police chief Thomas Hampel and municipal officer Kristina Frank (in her role as chairwoman of the Munich Security Forum) brought tissue boxes with warnings that should be given out primarily to older customers.
The core message: never give out money or valuables! As soon as you ask about it on the phone: hang up!
The methods the perpetrators use to surprise their victims are constantly changing, as the Munich police described based on a case that occurred just on Wednesday in the Am Hart district. A woman in her 70s was called at around 9:30 a.m. by an alleged bank employee who reported that money had been transferred from her account to a travel agency; He suspects fraud and will call the police. A little later, an alleged police officer contacted the senior citizen and confirmed that it was a common scam.
As a result, the perpetrators took turns calling the woman several times and made her believe that they wanted to set a trap for the alleged fraudsters – to do this, the senior citizen should deposit money on her doorstep as a lure. She then provided almost 10,000 euros. A little later she was informed that the trap had not sprung and asked if she had any additional money available. Only then did the woman become suspicious. But the first sum was already gone.