An old, very well-known chain letter is making the rounds again, but this time on WhatsApp: the alleged trick used by car thieves to attach a note to the rear window.

This is the chain letter that claims to be a “police warning” and reports on a case at Lidl in Höchberg. A person there found a note on the rear window of their car. Immediately afterwards the car was stolen.

This horror story is being shared again (probably even further) on WhatsApp, but the truth of this content has never changed: it is a fake, and therefore this story is in good hands with us!

MIMIKAMA

The content of the chain letter is:

POLICE WARNING!!!
First case in Höchberg at Lidl
Be careful and vigilant, it will certainly come to us soon.
After France, this method now reaches Germany and Austria.
Look out for notes on the rear window of your car.
This is the new method for car theft (this is not a joke!). They go to their car in the parking lot, open it and get in.
You start the engine and put the car in reverse gear. If you look through your rear window while reversing, you will notice a piece of paper in the middle of the rear window.
You stop and get out of the car to remove the paper because it obstructs your view and you are also curious about what is written on it.
As soon as you reach the back of the car, the car thief appears out of nowhere.
He jumps into your car and drives off. They stand there and he drives away at high speed. And guess what?
I bet your wallet or purse is still in the car. So now the car thief has your car, your address, your money, your keys.
Your house and your identity are at his mercy! He calls his accomplices on his cell phone, who immediately start clearing out your house/apartment, while you just report the car theft to the police.
They are highly organized and many drivers fall into the trap this way.
If you notice a note on the back of your car, lock your car doors, start it, and drive away.
You can remove the note later. Share this email with your family and friends.
A wallet contains many important identification documents. You certainly don't want them to fall into the wrong hands.
Please send this message to all your friends!!!!!
SPLIT!!!
SPLIT!!! SPLIT!!!!
SPLIT!!!!!!

This chain letter has been appearing for years and has also gained a slight dynamic, so that it varies in the place names (there is also a version with Strasbourg instead of Höchberg). These small mutations mean that such a chain letter always appears acute and is therefore supposedly distributed again, especially in the region mentioned, usually only by changing the place name. Due to the ever-new regional reference, other people always feel more strongly addressed.

When the word “police” comes into play in chain letters, things become particularly complicated: such chain letters gain popularity due to their supposedly official character and counterproductive credibility. This becomes even more explosive if such a fake is then forwarded insensitively by trustworthy but gullible government employees with good thinking.

These messages are called HOAX. From the English word for hocus, joke or practical joke, like an April Fool's joke.

The problem: numerous gullible people send the false warnings all too carelessly in chain letter style in the new media, on the Internet, in social networks or by email. In the belief that they are doing something good and warning others, they are actually frightening others uselessly and also clogging up the internet. That's why the police ask those contacted to deal with such "April Fools' jokes" critically all year round.


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Notes:
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