Dresden. Stefanie D. holds a stack of two hundred euro bills in her hand. Several gold chains are spread out on the table next to it. Her wedding ring is also included. The 70-year-old looks gratefully at the officers in the Dresden Police Department. If the police hadn’t existed, the precious jewelry and the money worth 20,000 euros would now be gone.
This Tuesday, the officers Stefanie D. and her husband Rolf returned the valuables that they had lost after a telephone fraud. Because the retired couple was tricked badly in March. During a leisurely breakfast, the phone rang for the two of them: The callers pretended to be police officers and public prosecutors, they were telling the couple a big lie.
Accordingly, there was a frightening break-in in the neighborhood. To protect themselves and to support the police financially, the couple should hide 20,000 euros and jewelry in a trash. The police would then pick it up there to protect the money from potential burglars.
A lousy phone scam through and through
The couple, who live in Chemnitz, immediately went to the Sparkasse. “Of course we had certain thoughts, but the police are our friends and helpers. We have considerable trust in the police,” explains pensioner Rolf in retrospect. The following day the couple drove to Dresden, where they hid money and jewelry in a wastebasket near the Alum Square in Neustadt. Then they made their way back.
What happened after that is summarized by the Dresden chief detective, Carsten Billy, because the couple did not notice any more of it. The Dresden police had received a message from Hanover a few days earlier that more than 20,000 euros in cash should be handed over to a con artist in the city. The officers therefore paused in front of the wastebasket at the specified time and observed the process. After a short time the fraudster approached, he wanted to get the money from the trash can. The officers identified the suspect and arrested the 40-year-old German.
The couple got back 20,000 euros, three chains, rings and a jewelry pin from the police on Tuesday. © Marion Doering
Backers difficult to determine
The public prosecutor’s office and police department in Hanover are now investigating the German and the people behind the fraud, from whom the police also received the tip. Chief Inspector Billy cannot say what consequences await the 40-year-old suspect. He points out, however, that this was possibly just a normal courier who was recruited via Ebay classifieds and had no relationship with the people behind it. Often the real fraud gangs are located abroad, mostly in Turkey, says Billy.
From there they trick older people in Germany in particular on the phone, selling themselves as police officers and public prosecutors. “The fraudsters are often of German-Turkish origin, they emigrated to Turkey because of a criminal offense in Germany. There they finance themselves, among other things, through fraud on the phone,” explains the commissioner. Because they were born in Germany, they spoke fluently and without an accent, which is why those affected are not taken aback.
At least Rolf and Stefanie D. are happy to have the money and jewelry back. They want to donate part of it to the general public. They have now learned one lesson from this: they do not pick up the receiver for a strange number for the time being.
The police advise:
Have a healthy sense of suspicion.
Do not give any information about your financial situation on the phone.
Never give money to strangers.
Police officers and public prosecutors do not keep valuables.
If you have any doubts, call in a person you trust and call the police.
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