During a lecture in Bad Tölz, Simon Brautigam described scams as "despicable", which repeatedly deprive seniors in particular of a lot of money.
He also made it clear that no one is immune.
Bad Tölz
– grandchild trick?
That would never happen to me.
Fallen for a fake police officer?
How can you be so stupid and not notice it... Cheating is something that only affects others - that's what many people think.
But Chief Inspector Simon Brautigam knows how quickly each individual can become a victim.
On Monday he was a guest at the "digital coffee party", an offer from the multi-generation house in Bad Tölz.
Police officer gives a lecture on telephone scammers in Bad Tölz
A warning sent out by the Oberbayern Süd police headquarters just a few hours after the lecture shows how vigilant every citizen should be when it comes to "scam calls": "Caution: The police are currently warning of fraudulent calls," says the press release.
The district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen is also affected.
Bridegroom works in the criminal police advice center for protection against crime in Weilheim.
He operates prevention in the districts of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen and Weilheim.
"Scams haunt us every day," he said at the beginning of his presentation.
"And it doesn't just affect the elderly." He assumes that the number of unreported cases is very high.
"People often do not dare to say anything and are alone with their misery."
If you get a call from the police and feel even the slightest suspicion, hang up immediately!
Chief Inspector Simon Brautigam
In order to raise awareness of these crimes, he presented the fraudsters' "ice-cold tactics" to an audience of around 30 people on Monday.
There is the wrong police officer.
He calls and pretends to his victim that there has been a break-in nearby.
However, only two perpetrators were caught, two others were on the run.
The false police officers often explain that a list of addresses was secured from the two arrested perpetrators, including that of the person called.
The bogus police officer now asks his counterpart on the phone to hand over all valuables in the house to an alleged colleague who will come by in civilian clothes.
The police will keep these things and the victim is safe.
In such situations, the groom advises:
"These calls mostly come from call centers in Turkey," says the expert.
"Nothing else is done there all day." Particularly perfidious: the perpetrators can use computer programs to light up wrong phone numbers on the display of the person called - including the emergency number 110. But: "The police never call 110," explains Brautigam.
It becomes problematic when the perpetrators call the number of the local police station.
"One often forgets to activate one's own protective screen at home, where one feels safe," says Brautigam and therefore advises: "Always think for a moment before picking up the phone." That doesn't mean that anyone has to go through life suspiciously.
"Just be careful."
Phone scammers ruthlessly traumatize their victims
Another popular scam among scammers is the so-called shock calls.
If the victim picks up the phone, they hear loud screeching and crying.
A person who is supposedly close to him, for example the alleged daughter, tearfully pretends to him that a terrible traffic accident has occurred.
She would have killed someone.
A “public prosecutor” then explains to the unsuspecting victim that the only way the daughter can escape prison is if a large sum of money is handed over to a messenger immediately and in cash.
"That's despicable," says Brautigam.
"It ruthlessly traumatizes people."
Also widespread: the bank employee scam.
The victim is told that corrupt bank employees are robbing his safe deposit box.
The perpetrators therefore order the victims to empty their lockers and hand over the valuables to a "civilian police officer" who is waiting for them in front of the bank.
Of course, they never see their valuables again.
In the end, the victims are not only hurt by the loss of their often entire fortune, but also by the ridicule and malice of others, says Brautigam.
By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Bad Tölz newsletter.
You can find more current news from the region around Bad Tölz at Merkur.de/Bad Tölz.
