The Dortmund police are drawing attention to a scam for which the perpetrators use platforms such as Tiktok, Instagram and Snapchat. The victims: young users.
The Dortmund police are warning social media users about a current scam. The authority is currently receiving increasing evidence of a form of money laundering for which perpetrators use platforms such as Tiktok, Snapchat and Instagram. In most cases, the victims of the scam are young people and adolescents.
The fraudsters would recruit young people via these platforms so that the victims would provide them with their accounts, including their debit card and PIN. The fraudsters then deposit money from other crimes into these accounts. This is how the fraudsters launder the illegal money through their victims’ accounts, to which they have full access. The unwanted accomplices are often promised a sum of money in exchange for making their accounts available – but instead the perpetrators steal the money from the accounts, the police explain.
“Those recruited usually act carelessly, but should be aware that by making their accounts available they are committing a crime – namely money laundering,” the police continued. However, in some cases, victims are also pressured or threatened into allowing perpetrators to access their accounts. “They then act out of fear of reprisals and therefore don’t talk to anyone about it.”
But the perpetrators sometimes act even more brazenly: “In order to increase profits even further, transfers that have already been made, such as rent, cell phone bills or other bills, are also reversed,” explain the officials. “Of course, these chargebacks are also used by the perpetrators.”
The police are therefore warning young people who are active on social networks. On the one hand, so that they don’t lose money and accounts to fraudsters, and on the other hand, so that they don’t commit crimes themselves. “Money laundering is not a trivial offense! The law stipulates a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine.”
The police’s appeal: “Remain suspicious when you ask strangers for access to your account and under no circumstances give out your account details.”
