Like a prayer wheel, they are warned: We are talking about unscrupulous fraudsters who pretend to be policemen on the phone and literally want to pull the money out of their chosen victims’ pockets with dubious fairy tales. In Tyrol, a pensioner (79) fell for the nasty scam – she gave the crooks almost 50,000 euros!
The nasty scam is anything but new – only the pretended “reasons for the investigation” keep changing. In the case of the 79-year-old Innsbruck woman, the alleged police officer claimed on the phone that “her money was not safe at the bank because a convicted criminal would work there.” “Put money in the garbage can.” The stranger asked the elderly woman to give up all of her money to be picked up from the bank and deposited in a rubbish bin at an agreed time. A policeman named “Ackermann” would then get the money. In addition, the fraudster suddenly stated that the money was counterfeit. “Appointment at the police station” In order to exchange this for “real” money, she would be given an appointment at the police station where she would be picked up on Friday. “The woman finally withdrew the cash, a medium five-digit euro amount, from her bank and deposited it in the agreed garbage can,” the real investigators say. However, after she was not picked up at the appointed time, the woman called the police. In the end the dizziness was exposed. All the money is gone. “End such calls immediately!” The real police emphasize: “Do not give details about valuables, account balances or cash. The real police would never ask about it on the phone ”. Such calls should generally be ended immediately. Never accept such dubious claims – report suspected fraud immediately! The Tyrolean executive offers free criminal investigation advice. These can be requested from any office or from the State Criminal Police Office (059 133-70 3333).
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