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Police in Munich (symbol image)
Photo: picture alliance / Sven Hoppe / dpa
A Munich student faked her own kidnapping and thus triggered a SEK operation.
University staff had reported the disappearance of the 22-year-old Chinese to the police after her parents had received a ransom demand for a six-figure sum in their home country, according to the Munich police headquarters.
Investigations revealed that the student was apparently staying in a Munich hotel.
A special task force (SEK) arrived on Friday and found the young woman, who had told a roommate that she wanted to travel, alone in her room.
Five-figure sum paid to scammer
According to the police, during her questioning it turned out that the 22-year-old had become "the victim of a perfidious scam".
Foreign students are contacted by alleged officials from their home country, who accuse them of being involved in crime and demand money to stop prosecution.
The woman had already paid the fraudsters a five-figure sum, but according to the police, they demanded even more.
In order to raise the money, the scammers then asked the student to fake her own kidnapping in order to get more money.
lmd/dpa