Energy flat rate for pensioners: pension insurance warns - where you should be careful now
Created: 11/26/2022, 23:11
By: Patricia Huber
The energy allowance for pensioners is a perfect opportunity for scammers to try a new trick.
Those affected could even be cheated by more than 300 euros.
Berlin – Pensioners in particular are often victims of fraudsters.
The best known is probably the grandchild trick.
But criminals keep coming up with new tricks to fool their victims and thereby swindle money.
The energy allowance for pensioners, which is paid out in December, is currently being used for fraud.
Pension: Fraudsters swindle account data with energy flat-rate trick
The German pension insurance (DRV) therefore warns seniors of this new scam.
Pensioners are called and asked to give their account details.
According to the fraudsters, this is necessary for the payment of the 300-euro energy flat rate so that the money really ends up in the account.
However, that is not true.
Because the German pension insurance already has your account details.
The 300 euros thus automatically land on the account to which pensioners also receive their payments.
So if someone on the phone asks for your account information, hang up immediately.
But not only the energy flat rate is used to cheat pensioners out of their money.
The callers often ask those affected to transfer money to an account in Germany or even abroad.
Reasons for this are often given as "transfer fees" or that too much pension has been paid.
In these cases you can be sure that it is not a caller from the German Pension Insurance.
This is because they never ask pensioners by phone to make transfers.
Our free pension newsletter provides you with all the relevant news on the subject on a regular basis. Here
you can register.
Scams: This is what retirees can do
Those affected are often threatened with pension cuts or pension seizures.
Retirees should not be intimidated by this.
If in doubt, you can also call the DRV service hotline on 0800 1000 4800.
On the DRV website you will also find the brochure "Beware of tricksters", which lists various scams, among other things.
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