Fraudsters keep coming up with new variants in order to cheat mostly elderly people out of money and valuables. They just tried it with three Lüner seniors.
Digitization determines large parts of our everyday life today. And so criminals have also adapted to technical progress: the classic grandchild trick has gone digital. It is now a recurring scam for criminals to pretend to be relatives and ask for money via messenger services, such as Whatsapp or SMS. In Lünen alone, three of these cases have been reported in the past few days.
Among them was the case of an 80-year-old from Alstedde, who transferred 1,450 euros to the scammers. When she became suspicious as to whether her son had really asked her for money, it was already too late. But Alstedderin was lucky – the bank from Berlin, where the money ended up, transferred the amount back to the 80-year-old’s account.
But that is not always the case. The scammers often manage to cheat their victims out of a lot of money. That’s why the police are warning of this scam and clarifying.
The perpetrators proceed as follows: A Whatsapp message comes, for example. “Hello mum. I lost my mobile phone.” An old device is now being used temporarily and the recipient of the message is asked to save the number.
Demand for money transfer
Later, there are urgent requests to transfer money to the relative (son/grandson/nephew or similar) for an open bill. The repayment is promised – often verbosely – for an early date. It was exactly the same with the Alstedderin.
Anyone who transfers at this point will never see this money again (in almost all cases). And the real sons or nephews, of course, didn’t send a message.
Therefore, the police give the following advice:
- Never respond to requests for money via messenger services.
- If you are contacted in this way by an alleged acquaintance or relative on an unfamiliar number, use the previously known contact numbers to personally inquire whether the telephone number has actually been changed. Or contact people in their environment.
- Do not immediately contact a stranger’s number. First check whether it is really the person you trust.
- Important: Always report such crimes to the police on 110, even if you have failed in the attempt and no money has been transferred. Only if the police are aware of the crimes can they either issue a public warning or have the opportunity to investigate.
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