Police warn: Telephone fraud in the region is increasing

Created: 04/07/2022 05:57

By: Dominik Goettler

With these flyers, the police warn against scams on the phone - and ask the younger generation for help.

Older relatives should be informed about the tricks of the scammers.

© Police

Shock calls, fake police officers, alleged prosecutors: the scams on the phone are getting bolder.

A veritable wave of calls is sloshing through Bavaria again.

The police warns - and also asks the younger generation for help.

Rosenheim – One morning in early March, Matthias Müller's (name changed) phone rang.

On the other end of the line are several people who take turns posing as judges, prosecutors, or other respected figures.

They tell Müller, who is approaching 90, about alleged fraudsters in the area and ask if he has any cash in the house.

If so, it must be checked for counterfeit money.

Müller has money at home.

He closed his savings account and, for fear of negative interest rates, took the money he had saved from his pension for years and needed for a renovation from the bank.

Müller can be persuaded to give the money to someone who will collect it.

"I don't know how that happened either," says Müller, sobbing.

Yesterday he told about his case at the request of the police headquarters in Upper Bavaria South.

To warn others.

He trusted the people on the phone.

And lost 30,000 euros as a result.

The scams

Legend fraud is what the police call this scam.

The scammers pretend to be police officers, judges or lawyers on the phone.

For example, they tell their victims about burglaries in the neighborhood.

The address of the victim was found during arrests.

A part of the gang of thieves is still at large.

Therefore, cash and valuables must be brought to safety.

Mesh two: The shock call (see box).

The callers report an accident.

A relative killed someone, imprisonment threatened.

The beloved family member can be released on bail.

In both cases, the money is to be handed over to a collector, an alleged civil servant.

The case numbers

Although these scams have been known for a long time, many people, especially older people, still fall for them.

"Seniors are exploited in the worst way," says police spokesman Martin Emig.

There has been a veritable wave of telephone fraud attempts in recent months.

In the first quarter of 2022, a total of 466 such attempts were registered in the area of ​​responsibility of the Oberbayern Süd police headquarters.

The scammers were successful 14 times.

This means that the number of successful fraud cases has almost reached the number for the entire previous year (18).

There were almost 1,000 attempts in 2021. Total damage: more than 600,000 euros, in cash alone.

The situation is similar in northern Upper Bavaria.

According to the responsible executive committee, the amount of damage had already more than doubled in the first quarter compared to the previous year.

Shock calls and fraud attempts from fake police officers have increased many times over.

In the north, the damage last year was 3.8 million euros.

And the number of unreported cases is likely to be higher - because not every victim reports to the police out of shame.

The offender

The perpetrators are psychologically trained and highly professional gangs who usually operate from call centers abroad, reports Kripo chief Christoph Mitter.

It seems as if call centers in Poland have specialized in shock calls, the cases of fraud and burglary stories from the neighborhood can often be traced back to Turkey.

The perpetrators are able to hide their phone numbers so that the victims' phones display the area code or even 110.

The scammers work with pickers in the region, and the loot is taken out of the country as quickly as possible.

This makes it so difficult for the police to solve the cases - if they are not reported immediately.

The victims

The scammers are specifically looking for seniors.

They scour the phone books for first names that are out of fashion and look specifically for three- or four-digit telephone numbers that indicate that the person has lived in the town for a long time.

Once the victims are on the hook, the perpetrators won't let go and skillfully keep the seniors on the line - often with changing contact persons in order to make the lie more believable.

How can you protect yourself?

The police headquarters in Upper Bavaria South advises: Never let yourself be put under pressure on the phone!

The police never ask for cash, money transfers or valuables.

When in doubt, just hang up and call 110 to be on the safe side and report suspicious calls immediately.

"We can often only act shortly afterwards," says Christoph Mitter.

If someone is picking them up in the region, many potential victims are often called there - with timely warning, the police can intervene.

The police advise against setting a trap for the scammers.

"They are so professional, they sense it immediately," says Mitter.

The police are also making an appeal to the younger generation: They should inform their parents and grandparents about the scams.

And also think about whether the phone book entry of the relatives should really remain.

Here's how the scammers work: Log of a shock phone call

The conversation begins with a loud sob.

A weepy woman's voice stutters something about a car accident.

And the elderly woman at the other end of the line doesn't even know what's happening here.

Then a man reports who introduces himself as "Matthias March" from the police.

Her daughter had been arrested, he told the elderly woman in a calm but firm tone – and with a barely recognizable accent.

The daughter ran over a young lady who was eight months pregnant.

As part of its educational campaign, the police headquarters yesterday played back a 13-minute, anonymous, tapped shock call from the past month - to demonstrate how senior citizens are put under pressure in such cases.

"People are simply taken by surprise," says police spokesman Martin Emig.

While the elderly woman still cannot grasp the situation and is primarily worried about her grandchildren, the scammer on the other end of the line gets straight to the point.

He brushes off annoying inquiries.

The daughter could only be released on bail of 40,000 euros.

But that has to be done today and in cash.

"I have to ask you," says the man, "do you want to help your daughter to be released today?"

She doesn't have that much money, replies the completely distraught woman.

She could raise a maximum of 3,000 euros quickly.

"You can't help out with that," replies the man.

Doesn't she have valuables or gold in the house?

She did not.

When he gets stuck, he hands over to an alleged colleague named "Monika Fischer".

The accomplice cleverly asks for all the data from the elderly woman - and starts a new attempt: "Have you saved any funeral money or anything else?" The elderly woman thinks aloud how far she can overdraw her account and from whom she could borrow money so suddenly .

But in the end the attempted fraud was unsuccessful.

Unfortunately, that's not always the case.

"The victims trust the state," says Commissariat Director Christoph Mitter, "and are caught immediately." That's why it's important to educate people - and to prepare people for such situations.