After an Ickingerin carelessly gave away the access data for her online account on the phone, her bank prevented worse things from happening.
Icking/Wolfratshausen – Looking back, Franziska Müller (name changed) is extremely annoyed with herself. Despite the warnings that the police spread almost every day via the media, she almost fell for a telephone scammer with bitter consequences.
"The story is not a glory page for me," says the 60-year-old.
The woman from Icking told our newspaper anyway – so that the next potential victim would immediately see through the scam.
"Sat like the howling misery at home": Sparkasse saves 60-year-olds after fraud
"On Friday I warned my mother about shock calls," reports the 60-year-old.
The next day, last Saturday, her cell phone rang around noon.
Müller can read on the display: "Sparkasse Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen." She accepts the call, and "Sebastian Schmid" answers at the other end of the line, pretending to be an employee of the Sparkasse.
"He was extremely friendly and very eloquent," remembers the Icking native.
However, Mr. Schmid had some worrying news for her: It is said that someone in the Frankfurt am Main area is currently trying to hack the Müller couple's online account.
Because the savings bank "is there for its customers around the clock," he even calls on Saturdays to protect the Müllers from harm, Mr. Schmid whispered.
Alleged bank employee feigns imminent danger
If you wish, you can meet in person at the Sparkasse Advice Center in Wolfratshausen on Monday to have the account blocked.
On the other hand: Since there is imminent danger, he can of course block the account immediately - provided that Franziska Müller reveals the six-digit transaction number (TAN) to him.
"In the initial shock and out of concern that money would disappear from our account all weekend," she had not pricked up his ears, but had carelessly trusted her counterpart and revealed the access data.
Genuine Sparkasse employees respond immediately to emergency calls
As soon as the ominous phone call was over, "I got a really bad feeling," the 60-year-old told our newspaper.
She and her husband managed relatively quickly to research the cell phone number of their bank advisor.
"I prayed that he would answer the phone even though it was Saturday," says the woman from Icking.
She was lucky: the Sparkasse employee responded to the call and, when asked by the worried Müllers, knew immediately that there was no employee at the local bank by the name of Sebastian Schmid.
What's more, since he wasn't near Wolfratshausen and didn't have an internet connection either, he immediately asked a (real!) colleague to drive to the advice center on Sauerlacher Strasse.
"Meanwhile, I sat at home like the howling misery," reports Franziska Müller.
In her mind's eye, minute by minute, euro by euro disappeared from her account, never to be seen again.
Then came the reassuring message: "Nothing happened," the online account was protected in good time from unauthorized access.
Ickingerin annoys himself: "How can you be so stupid?"
"The whole thing went well again by a hair's breadth," said the 60-year-old, summing up the nerve-wracking event.
"We are very, very grateful to the two Sparkasse employees for helping us." In the eyes of Franziska Müller, it has proven to be a great advantage "that our bank is on site".
She still grumbles about herself: "How can you be so stupid?" To save her honor it should be mentioned that the con artists and shock callers act extremely professionally, according to the police.
"As I said, it all started when a call from Sparkasse Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen appeared on my mobile phone display."
Also read: Unknown attacks young people at the S-Bahn station in Icking
Caution is the mother of the porcelain box: Franziska Müller wrote this truism behind her ears again.
And she emphasizes what the Sparkasse employees have inculcated in her: personal data or even the transaction number for online banking are never asked for on the phone.
(cce)
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