The police are currently warning of a new scam by fake police officers!

the essentials in brief

  • Scammers call and ask: “Do you know me?” (This is a grandchild trick)
  • A short time later, a “Franz Meyer” or a certain “Michael Steinbeck” from the LKA calls to clarify the grandchild trick.
  • Fraudsters adapt their scam so that they first contact people using the well-known grandchild trick. This is followed by a call from a fake police officer who informs people about the previous grandchild fraud and thus steals the trust of those called.

On January 30, 2020, an Augsburg resident received a call with a suppressed number. The male unknown person asked: “ Do you know me?” “ – the man from Augsburg, who suspected it was a former colleague, responded to the conversation. During the phone call, the unknown caller wanted to borrow several thousand euros. The Augsburg man said no and then ended the conversation.

This trick has been known as the so-called “grandchild trick” for some time. But it continued:

About 10 minutes later, another male person called and said that his name was Franz Meyer and that he was from the LKA Munich . He noticed that the Augsburg man had just been called by a supposed acquaintance. To make sure that he is speaking to the right police, he should press the “star button” on his phone and then dial 110 to be connected to the police operations center. But the Augsburg man questioned this and became suspicious. The unknown caller then ended the conversation.

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The special feature: 0821/323-110 was displayed as the phone number. This is a telephone number very similar to the Schwaben Nord police headquarters, which also simulates the emergency number 110. We expressly warn against this modified scam!

In such a case and at the first doubt, we advise you to HANG UP immediately! Under no circumstances should you allow yourself to be further connected. Hang up immediately and dial 110 INDEPENDENTLY.

Another case! Now the fake police officer called himself “Michael Steinbeck”

The fake police officer told of burglars who were supposedly after the woman's assets. When the insecure 49-year-old confirmed that she owned assets, the fake police officer promised her that he could secure them for her. The fraudster asked the woman to collect her assets from the bank and then await further instructions.

The fraudsters were able to dispel the woman's brief doubts about the authenticity of the alleged police officer by asking the 49-year-old to dial 110 after a beep. The phone call was simply redirected to another fraudster, who also posed as a police officer and confirmed to the woman that her assets were in danger.

The 49-year-old then went to the bank and withdrew an amount of cash in the lower five-digit euro range.

During a subsequent phone call with the fraudster, the woman was instructed to drive to a distant handover location because her apartment was unsafe. When the 49-year-old was navigated by the fraudsters by phone in the direction of Kleinaitingen, she again had doubts about the whole thing. The 49-year-old then reported the facts to the real police.

At the same time, the woman continued to receive instructions from the scammer. She was given a public parking lot in Kaufbeuren where she was supposed to put the money in a bag in a specific place.

Shortly after the woman left the bag as agreed, a man picked up the bag of money. The 44-year-old fraudster was arrested at the pickup location by police officers from the Schwaben Nord police headquarters.

The 44-year-old's apartment in Kaufbeuren was also searched in close cooperation with the Swabia South / West Police Headquarters.

At the request of the Augsburg public prosecutor's office, the responsible investigating judge at the Augsburg district court issued an arrest warrant against the 44-year-old on the strong suspicion of gang and commercial fraud and executed it.

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Possible other victims who received a call from the alleged Michael Steinbeck from the Augsburg criminal police are asked to contact their local police station.

In this context, the police are again warning against false police officers. The fraudsters are currently adapting their scam so that they first contact people using the well-known grandchild trick. Then there is a call from a fake police officer who informs people about the previous grandchild fraud and thus steals the trust of those called.

Note: The police will neither question you about valuables, nor will the police offer insured storage of your assets.

Source: Police Swabia North , Police Bavaria


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