Police warn: con artists on the rise

Created: 04/11/2022, 07:00

By: Andreas Seiler

Warning against the new scams of the telephone scammers: the two criminal police officers Martin Sponsel (left) and Simon Brautigam (right) as well as Michael Müller, board member of the district savings bank.

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They are unscrupulous and act cleverly: con artists use increasingly sophisticated methods to find their victims in order to rob them.

The cases are piling up here in the region.

The younger population is also increasingly being targeted.

The latest scam of the crooks: alleged online financial investments and investments in cryptocurrencies.

County - The scammers are getting bolder - and coming up with newer and newer deceptions.

For example, they pretend to be police officers, notaries or employees of Microsoft or a bank, speak German without an accent and operate from call centers located abroad, for example in Turkey or Lithuania.

Organized gangs are usually behind this.

The goal is always the same: it's about robbing bona fide citizens of their assets under false pretenses.

High number of unreported cases

Call center fraud, as this form of crime is called, is booming.

A veritable wave is rolling over Germany.

The figures given by the Oberbayern Süd police headquarters are alarming: in 2021, 18 successful crimes were counted in around 1000 attempts in his area of ​​responsibility.

This year there are almost as many in the first quarter: namely 14 out of 466 attempts.

The number of unreported cases is likely to be much higher, as many victims do not report out of shame or frustration.

In any case, the damage caused is enormous.

In some cases, five or six-digit sums are stolen.

The dilemma here: the law enforcement officers usually only catch the "small fish", especially helpers who collect the loot.

They hardly ever get close to the actual string pullers in the background.

The police therefore focus primarily on prevention and education - and hopes to protect the population.

Scammers are absolutely ruthless

"The fraudsters are unscrupulous, cold and fast," said the criminal investigator Simon Brautigam in a press conference that took place on the premises of the district savings bank.

Together with his colleague Martin Sponsel - both of whom work in the criminal police advice centers for protection against crimes in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Weilheim - he warned of the current scams and tricks.

His advice, should you receive such a call: "Hang up immediately!"

Criminals are not short of ingenuity and tall tales to save money.

The methods they use to put pressure on those they call are becoming more and more perfidious.

Shock calls are currently widespread, in which it is pretended that a family member is in an emergency and urgently needs money – for example for bail.

In this way, more than 50,000 euros were recently taken from a woman from the Weilheim area.

Remarkable: Up to now, the rip-offs have mainly focused on senior citizens.

Now they are trying to rip off the younger ones too.

It's about fake online investments and investments in digital cryptocurrencies - topics that get a lot of attention in times of low interest rates.

The victims are lured into a trap with an alleged "insider tip" and imaginary winnings on a fictitious account.

They start with small amounts and are encouraged by bogus brokers to keep making new deposits.

It often takes months before they realize something is wrong.

"The money is long gone," explained Sponsel.

"The imagination of the scammers is getting bigger," said Michael Müller, board member of the district savings bank.

For this reason, it is extremely important to regularly train and sensitize the employees of the financial institution.

Because the last hurdle before the perpetrators succeed, the bankers can sound the alarm in good time if something seems Spanish to them - for example, an exceptionally large amount that is to be withdrawn, or a transfer to a dubious account.

"Through various security systems and the vigilance of our employees, we have been able to successfully prevent a number of fraud attempts at Sparkasse Garmisch-Partenkirchen in recent years and thus avert damage to our customers and the Sparkasse," says a press release.