As of: March 7, 2024, 11:03 a.m
By: Vivian Werg
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Criminals repeatedly try to use fraud to get their victims' personal data or money.
Pensioners are often targeted.
Frankfurt – Whether it’s a fraudulent phone call, a forged letter or a trick at the front door – the fraudsters’ scams are varied.
They now spare no effort or effort to deceive their victims.
The criminals are highly professional and are becoming increasingly sophisticated.
Due to the increasing number of fraud attempts, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) regularly urges people to be particularly careful.
Seniors in particular are often deprived of their money – or their pension.
Now the German Pension Insurance (DRV) is warning again about pension fraud.
Pensioners are once again being targeted by con artists: the German pension insurance company is issuing an urgent warning.
© Andrey Popov/Imago
Pension fraud: The German pension insurance warns against this typical scam
A deceptively genuine letter, an unannounced visit at home or an unexpected telephone call: According to the German Pension Insurance, fraudsters are currently increasingly trying to get personal data or even the bank details of insured people.
Only recently did the DRV warn against false SMS.
At the moment there have been “dubious emails,” according to a statement from the German pension insurance company.
She therefore warns older people in particular about tricksters on the Internet.
According to their own statements, they would use a typical scam:
The recipients of the messages are asked to send personal or company-specific information.
The affected pensioners are often asked to transfer money directly to someone else's account - otherwise there is supposedly a risk of their pension being garnished, pension cuts or other disadvantages.
“Under no circumstances should those affected transfer money domestically or even abroad based on these requests,” the DRV continued.
This emphasizes that in the cases mentioned above these are not emails from DRV employees or from people commissioned by DRV.
The case of a Frankfurt woman also showed how quickly fraudsters can cheat you out of a lot of money: she lost around 11,000 euros through a phishing link in an online banking scam.
Numerous ING and Sparkasse customers were also recently affected by a fraudulent email.
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German pension insurance warns – pension fraud can also occur on the phone or at the front door
As the German pension insurance informs in its brochure “Beware of trick fraud”, the pension fraudsters also proceed in a similar way when they carry out scams on the telephone or at the front door:
During fraudulent telephone calls, criminals disguise themselves as DRV employees and demand that those affected quickly transfer an amount of money to a specific account.
With the help of technical manipulation, those affected sometimes see the pension insurance's telephone number on the display of their telephone (so-called call ID spoofing).
During a home visit, fraudsters try to gain access to the apartment under the pretext that a pension adjustment needs to be made in order to look for money and valuables.
Other fraudsters sometimes present a form on which personal details must be entered and then signed.
Here too, the urgent note from the German Pension Insurance: Insured persons are never asked to make a payment over the phone.
In addition, increased caution is particularly required when making home visits: According to the DRV, the only pension insurance employees who visit insured people at home are the insured's oldest or insured's advisors - but only if the insured have approached them themselves and made an appointment .
Pension fraud: This is how you can protect yourself
With a few precautionary measures, seniors can protect themselves from perfidious scams
(source: Deutsche Rentenversicherung, Weisser Ring)
:
Have a healthy level of suspicion when a stranger calls you.
Do not share personal information with strangers over the phone.
In addition, secret numbers should never be entered using the keypad on your phone.
Be particularly vigilant if the other person demands money.
Don't let yourself be put under pressure.
Do not accept any demands for money or give money or valuables to strangers.
If you receive unclear letters or calls from authorities or companies, then contact the relevant institution yourself and have the facts confirmed.
Never click on the link or attachment of an email or text message unless you are completely sure that the message is genuine.
Even if reports of attempted fraud are causing concern, there is also news that is good news for retirees - a significant increase in pensions is on the horizon in 2024.