Grandchild trick was yesterday. This time it is surprisingly young people who report to the Oberpfalz police headquarters – many of them 50 years old or younger. They all tell a similar story: Internet scammers pretended to be a daughter or son on a messenger service like WhatsApp and claimed to have lost or broken their own cell phone. That is also the reason why they reported under a strange number.
Watch out for someone else’s number
The scammers make their victims believe that they are in an emergency – for example, water damage in their own apartment – and ask them to urgently transfer a large sum of money. Some fraudsters have already collected six-digit sums with this scam.
Michael Duschl is the spokesman for the police headquarters in Upper Palatinate. He advises to be suspicious of messages from strange numbers. First of all, you should try to contact the relevant people on their actual number. If that doesn’t work, the police advise calling the stranger’s number personally or asking for a voice message. At the latest then the dizziness flies up.
Bavaria-wide problem
The problem is not limited to the Upper Palatinate. The police headquarters is in contact with colleagues throughout Bavaria. In many counties, the number of messenger fraud cases has increased significantly in recent weeks.
Police expert Duschl warns: Once the money is in the fraudster’s account, a refund is usually no longer possible, according to the police. If those affected notice it too late and have already transferred the money, the police advise contacting your own bank as soon as possible.
It can happen to anyone
Above all, police spokesman Michael Duschl asks not to be ashamed of a failure. Those affected often have great reluctance to report to the police because they are embarrassed that they did not recognize the Internet fraud early enough. But that is the wrong approach. Only by telling your story can you save others from a similar fate. And, police spokesman Duschl emphasizes again: “It can really happen to anyone.”
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