Lippe - An 85-year-old pensioner from Bad Salzuflen almost fell victim to the "grandchild trick" scam on Tuesday if an attentive financial institution employee hadn't been there and had become suspicious.

The woman was called at lunchtime by her supposed niece, who urgently needed a five-figure sum of money due to financial hardship.
During the conversation, the pensioner got the impression that she was actually talking to her niece on the phone. It was then agreed that someone would come by on behalf of the niece in the afternoon to collect the money. The victim made his way to the bank that held his account in neighboring Herford and asked for the desired amount to be paid out. The employee was “on his toes” and immediately suspected nothing good when the request was made to him.
How right he was. During a conversation it quickly became clear that this was obviously an attempt at tricking grandchildren. The police were called in and fortunately there was no damage.

This scam appears again and again and it must be expected that further attempts of this kind will take place or have already taken place throughout the district and beyond.
Report these matters to your police.
The appeal is made to the younger relatives of potential victims to speak extensively with their older family members and inform them about the dangers of grandchild trickery. If such calls are received, you should always contact the real grandson, nephew, etc. at the personally known address before taking any further steps. This is the only way the matter can be examined and verified. Remember any phone numbers that may be shown on the phone display for such calls and write them down.
Also note the caller's voice and pay attention to background noise. If you have any information about such or similar fraud or trickster scams, please report it to your local office.

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