Recognize scams and protect yourself from them!

Attempted fraud with a reminder letter

Attempted fraud by post is currently particularly “popular” with perpetrators. In the past few days, countless households have received a letter from an alleged law firm. This is a warning letter for lottery services that were allegedly provided but not paid for. In all cases reported so far, the recipients were asked to pay 289.50 euros. We already reported on this on April 7th ( here ) and would like to point out once again: The law firm named as the sender does not exist! The writing is a “fake”! Please do not transfer any money!

When “Microsoft” answers

Fraud attempts by telephone are also still heavily used by fraudsters - with a wide variety of variants. Starting with shock calls, through the so-called grandchild trick and fake police officers to calls from alleged Microsoft employees. ( Here )

WhatsApp message with “Hello Mom…”, “Hello Dad…”, “Hello Grandma…”

Unfortunately, the perpetrators were once again successful with their made-up stories this week. Among other things, the second completed fraud was reported using WhatsApp messages. After a 61-year-old woman from Kaiserslautern had already accepted the demands for money because she thought she was “chatting” with her grandson, a 65-year-old woman from the district who had experienced the same thing also came forward. The first message she received from an unknown number, the sender pretended to be his son and then asked for money - the woman believed the story and transferred several thousand euros. ( Here )

Fake bank employees

In another case, a fraudster posed as a bank employee on the phone and managed to manipulate his 57-year-old victim from the district in such a way that he gained access to the man's account and made transfers totaling tens of thousands of euros could carry out. On Monday, the real bank employees noticed the “suspicious money movements” and asked the account holder. The 57-year-old then canceled all transactions so that a large part of the funds could be returned. Nevertheless, the man was ultimately left with four-digit damage.

Scammers pretend to be professors

Even young people are not immune to such scams. A 26-year-old woman reported to police on Tuesday that she had fallen for a fake email. The sender posed as her professor and asked to purchase so-called voucher cards. The young woman agreed, bought cards worth several hundred euros and sent the corresponding codes to the (wrong) professor. By the time the fraud was discovered, the money was gone.

Auction and sales portals

Last but not least, auction and sales portals on the Internet remain a popular playground for all kinds of fraud. A 60-year-old man from the city reported to the police on Tuesday that an interested party had responded to his online advertisement for the sale of his car who was now trying to rip him off. The supposed prospective buyer claimed shipping costs of around 1,000 euros for the delivery of the vehicle, which the seller was supposed to cover and transfer to him in advance. However, the 60-year-old recognized the fraud and called the police.

Our urgent appeal

Regardless of whether you receive demands for money by post, email, telephone or mobile phone messenger – stay vigilant! Before you accept any demands from strangers: Be sure to check who you are dealing with and whether the person you are dealing with is actually who they say they are! It's better to ask more than pay too much! After all, it's about your money! Protect it!

Source:

West Palatinate Police Headquarters
own research