Rip-off when you call: Police publish video – this is how the lousy scam of telephone scammers works

Created: 12/15/2022, 5:00 p.m

By: Nadja Hoffmann

They were targeted by telephone scammers: Hubert Gärtner and Annemarie B. © Marcus Schlaf

In November alone, seniors in Munich were robbed of a million euros: fraudsters are very successful with the shock call scam on the Isar.

That's why the police are breaking new ground: they publish a video in which an affected person speaks.

He put a pickup behind bars.

Munich has a problem that is getting bigger and bigger: criminal clans from Poland rob senior citizens of their well-deserved money with shock calls.

In the past month alone, there have been nine cases in which telephone scammers have stolen around one million euros.

In the whole year it was five million euros.

"The number of cases is increasing," says chief investigator Hans-Peter Chloupek.

Means: Munich has to be more careful!

In order for this to succeed, the police have now created a video to warn seniors.

In it Hubert Gärtner tells how he should become a victim of the scammers - and why he was warned.

"I've had a grandson trick call before.

So he knew how something like this works,” says the 81-year-old.

Even then, the senior informed the police with the presence of mind.

When Gärtner got a shock call on the landline, he secretly dialed 110 on his cell phone. This allowed the police to record the conversations.

"My daughter is said to have caused an accident in which one person was killed," says Gärtner.

"But I don't have a daughter." The Munich player joins in the game - and makes sure that the handcuffs click when the money is handed over.

Police put criminals behind bars

The police and the judiciary have already been able to arrest 40 people picking them up, according to public prosecutor Kai Gräber.

"The cells in the JVA are well filled." In his eyes, the scam is so perfidious because it is aimed at old people - who are often more trusting and gullible.

Unfortunately, Annemarie B. (name changed) has how quickly the trap snaps shut.

experienced.

When the 86-year-old rang and said it was her crying granddaughter, she ended up losing 15,000 euros.

It was the crying, she says.

That made her do whatever the scammers wanted.