Schwerin / Neubrandenburg (dpa) – Con artists stole more money in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania this year with different scams than in previous years. As a spokeswoman for the State Criminal Police Office of the German Press Agency said, older people in particular lost a total of 2.8 million euros by the end of November. That was around 900,000 euros more than in all of 2020, when the highest amount of fraud to date came together.
Of a total of 2,682 reported attempts at fraud, 258 were successful for the perpetrators. There had been 2,657 attempts in the previous year, of which 225 attempts ended with money transfers or transfers. The most frequently used scam in 2021 was by far the trick of pretending to be a fake police officer, which happened a little more than 1000 times, mainly with so-called shock calls. Fraudsters report by phone call that a close relative is said to have caused a serious accident and is now staying in custody until the person called gives or transfers money for a deposit – preferably a five-digit amount.
This is followed by the classic grandchildren’s trick with 708 cases and competition promises, which were reported in 305 cases. However, the greatest damage was caused by fraudsters when they pretended to be bank employees who, among other things, supposedly had to check their account details. Here, the victims lost a total of more than one million euros in 37 cases.
The police therefore recommend continuing to be particularly suspicious if someone does not introduce themselves by name on the phone. In the case of pecuniary claims, the called party should generally hang up the phone immediately. If in doubt, the relatives should be called back.
In January 2021, strangers stolen a particularly large amount from an 86-year-old woman in Graal-Müritz near Rostock, who lost 300,000 euros. There a caller had passed himself off as a son. He caused a serious accident and urgently needs money to settle the damage. But he couldn’t pick it up, but a lawyer friend.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 211229-99-530283 / 2
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