Ripped off by fake police officers: Munich senior (87) should give 28,000 euros – this taxi driver saved him

Created: 06/03/2022, 17:05

By: Andreas Thieme

Did everything right: Rochus Mayr (59) drove the senior to the police - and not to the bank © SIGI JANTZ

His taxi almost became a crime scene: Rochus Mayr (59) saw up close how a Munich senior (87) was almost ripped off by a gang of fraudsters.

But he stepped in courageously and was able to prevent a crime - the taxi driver is now even being honored for this by the Munich police.

Munich - "It was on a Friday morning, one of my last trips," says Mayr.

He was standing in his taxi at the Moosach train station when he received a call.

"That was really strange, because a young man asked how long it would take me to get to Netzerstrasse.

In fact, it's only about 500 meters."

Mayr drove off.

The caller had told him that an elderly gentleman would be getting on.

The drive should go to a bank branch.

"The passenger seemed insecure and nervous," Mayr recalls.

"He was already very old and asked if I knew too." There had been a break-in near him, and the police now wanted to secure his money, the senior said.

He now wants to withdraw 28,000 euros from his bank in Moosach in order to bring it to the officials - allegedly for security.

"The alarm bells went off for me," says Mayr.

Because he had already heard about the scam of the wrong police officers - it always works exactly like this: pensioners receive a call from an alleged commissioner, they are told a concrete dangerous situation - in order to then be able to demand money, which the seniors put in a bag in front of the Put the door or how to get the 87-year-old from the bank.

Munich: Taxler saw how Senior should be ripped off – and bravely intervened

"I knew something wasn't right," says Mayr.

He asked the passenger if he had spoken to his family.

"But he said he had hardly any contacts." In fact, it is often single people who fall victim to the gangs of fraudsters - they are put under enormous pressure on the phone, sometimes for hours.

So also with the 87-year-old.

"He said he was in constant communication with the police and even showed me his cell phone."

What many senior citizens don't know is that some of the fraudulent calls show the number 110 or 112 on the display - but these are catch circuits from the fraudsters who are based in Turkey.

From there they hire young people to pick them up to take the seniors' money with them.

Fraud in Munich: the police thank the courageous taxi driver - "exemplary"

"I perceived the senior as very stressed," says Mayr.

"He asked me to drive him to the bank.

But in that state, that wasn't a good idea.

I decided that we would drive straight to the nearest police station.” In this way, the taxi driver not only prevented a crime.

But also that the 87-year-old loses large parts of his assets.

"Exemplary!" praises Hans-Peter Chloupek, head of the Phenomena working group at the Munich police.

"We thank you and also ask all other taxi drivers to notify the police immediately if they have the feeling that an elderly passenger has fallen into the clutches of the call center mafia."