26.05.2021 – 12:15
Police headquarters in Neubrandenburg
Usedom (ots)
We would like to ask the population to be particularly vigilant at the moment. Fraudsters are currently active in all three districts in our area of responsibility. Yesterday alone, 20 elderly people answered and reported fraud attempts on the phone. Unfortunately, in one case it was not just one attempt.
By mid-May there had been almost 400 reported attempts in our area of responsibility this year. The number of unreported cases is likely to be enormous, as many people who are called simply hang up. There are also almost 60 cases in which the fraud was successful. The damage is over EUR 800,000. Even with the deeds accomplished, we assume an unreported number, since many victims are simply ashamed to have fallen for the fraud.
In the districts of Mecklenburg Lake District and Western Pomerania-Rügen there were isolated calls from the fraudsters yesterday. They failed with their “house purchase” and “raffle” scams.
The main focus is currently the district of Vorpommern-Greifwald and here in particular the island of Usedom. In more than a dozen cases, the gang used the scam of so-called shock calls to the elderly.
The fraud succeeded in an 80-year-old German from Karlshagen. The elderly woman received a call from an alleged police officer that afternoon. He told her that her son had caused an accident in which a little girl was seriously injured. He then connected the injured party with the alleged public defender, who told her that she would be bailed between EUR 20,000 and EUR 30,000 so that her son could be released. The total would result depending on how badly the child is injured. The 80-year-old stated that she first had to clarify with the bank how much money she could get. The public defender ordered that she was not allowed to hang up the phone during this time and that she was not allowed to speak to anyone about the matter. Fraudsters often use the ban on hanging up to check whether their victims are calling someone else. When the elderly woman came back from the bank, she called a third person. The alleged lawyer wanted to settle the bail with her. It just happened that a colleague was in Karlshagen who could take the money. However, the lawyer colleague has a disability and cannot speak well. A password and a meeting point have been identified.
At 6:30 p.m., the injured party met the money collector on the Edeka car park in Karlshagen. He gave the password and she handed him almost 8,000 euros in an envelope. The unknown perpetrator was about 160 cm tall, fat, 50 to 60 years old and had longer dark hair.
Who saw this person Who can provide information on possible crime vehicles? Please send information to the Heringsdorf police station at 038378/279224 and the MV Landespolizei internet station at www.polizei.mvnet.de or to any other police station.
It was only at home that the elderly woman called her son, realizing that she had fallen for a fraud, and informed the police. This morning she even received another call from the scammers. They actually asked how it had gone yesterday. Startled, the woman hung up.
It can be assumed that there are still gangs of fraudsters with us. While some of the perpetrators often call from abroad, the money collectors are on site. These are then sent to the victims who successfully committed the fraud. The perpetrators often stay in a region for a while until it has been “grazed” and then move on.
We are therefore absolutely dependent on the help of the population. Despite all educational work and warnings, the fraudsters always succeed in finding victims. Especially now, when there is no personal exchange, prevention work at senior citizen events or even simple coffee gossip, it is important that you warn your relatives.
In particular, we would like to appeal to our bank employees, taxi drivers and salespeople, who have so often been the last-minute rescuers, to be particularly attentive now and to critically question an unusual money pick-up, the strange drive to the bank or the purchase of a large number of voucher cards.
Here are the most common tips in brief
NO! You did not win the lottery! Nobody has to pay for the transport of the profit! NO! Your grandson did not have an accident! He doesn’t have to be bailed out of prison! NO! Your grandson doesn’t need money for a house! Nobody has to pay the notary immediately in cash! NO! Thieves don’t have a list with your name! There is no way the police will seize your money!
Please contact:
Nicole Buchfink
Police headquarters in Neubrandenburg
Press office
Phone: 0395 / 5582-2040
Email: [email protected]
http://www.polizei.mvnet.de
On Twitter: @Polizei_PP_NB
Inquiries outside of office hours and on weekends:
Police headquarters in Neubrandenburg
Operations control center / police officer on duty
Telephone: 0395 5582 2223
Email: [email protected]
Original content by: Police Headquarters Neubrandenburg, transmitted by news aktuell
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