As early as spring 2022, there was a wave of countless blackmail emails, most of which named police , Interpol or Europol The allegations were always related to child or cyber pornography, pedophilia and exhibitionism. In April 2022, a user even committed suicide because of such a fake email. We HERE . In a suicide note, the man stated that he could not live with this accusation. When he was found dead in April, the email was still on the screen.

Such fake emails are doing the rounds again! This time the sender is the “General Directorate of the State Police” or “ Youth Protection Brigade ”

The recipient is accused, among other things, of pedophilia. If the recipient does not respond within 72 hours, their contact details will be published. He should also be registered as a sex offender in all European authorities.

These are letters like these and others like them. In the head area you can see the “”

MIMIKAMA
Screenshot: In the header area you can see the “Youth Protection Brigade”

The incident mentioned is a so-called “authority scam”

This term can be translated as “authority fraud”. Criminals assume the identity of an authority in order to use its authority for themselves and thus access data, steal money or carry out other crimes.

How to spot authority scams

  • Sender email address: Look closely at the email address. In this case, the emails come from gmail.com or libertymail.co addresses. This is not an official police email address.
  • Missing salutation: If there is no salutation and you are only addressed with a “Hello” or “Dear Madam, Dear Sir”, you can assume that the letter was sent en masse to countless people.
  • No specific description of the crime: You are accused of a crime. But what exactly it is is not explained - i.e. when, what, where was consumed or shared.
  • Time pressure and numerous threats: Writing creates pressure to respond immediately. If you don't respond within 72 hours, a warrant will allegedly be issued for your arrest. There is also a threat that you will be recorded as a “sex offender” and your personal information will be made public. This is not an official procedure; the criminals want to cause panic among the recipients of the message.

What should you do if you receive an email like this?

  • Have you also received one of these messages? There is no need to worry. Simply delete the message or move the email to your spam or junk folder.
  • Did you reply to the message? There is no reason to worry here either. Remember that criminals will send you more fake emails in the future. Be careful! If you receive demands for money from criminals, we advise you to simply ignore them.
  • Have you already transferred money? In this case, you should contact the police immediately and file a report. More information is available here. If the money was not transferred long ago, you can also try to get the money back - unfortunately the chances of success are very low.

Do not respond to such emails and ignore them, they are fake!

Notice

Such fake emails are likely sent in the hundreds of thousands every day. While most Internet users recognize the fraud behind it and delete these emails, it can also reach someone “ at exactly the wrong moment, in a stressful life situation ,” writes the “Kleine Zeitung.” It is all the more important to know that people can find themselves in extreme situations as a result of such apparently obvious fraud emails. At this point an appeal from the Kleine Zeitung expert:

“If suicidal thoughts arise in a crisis situation, regardless of the trigger, we strongly recommend that you seek professional help.” 

Important contacts and advice centers:

Germany

Austria

  • Psychiatric emergency help (midnight to midnight): 01/313 30
  • Crisis Intervention Center (Mon-Fri 10-5): 01/406 95 95
  • Advice and help if you are at risk of suicide: 0810/97 71 55
  • Social psychiatric emergency service: 01/310 87 79
  • Telephone counseling (0-24, free of charge): 142
  • Advice on the wire (midnight to midnight, for children & young people): 147
  • Concern hotline for children, young people and adults (Mon-Sat 2 p.m. - 6 p.m., free of charge): 0800/20 14 40
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )