Senior citizens are victims of crime time and time again.
Some fall for fake police officers, some for the grandchild trick, some for fake skilled workers or other scams. We want to take away your fear! Nobody needs to be ashamed of falling for these scams. It can happen to anyone!
It is important not to hide away but to contact us - the real police. If you notice anything strange on the phone, hang up immediately and call the emergency number 110 yourself.
So that you know which scams scammers also use in our district, here are a few examples:
The perpetrators contacted a woman from Beckum via the social network Facebook. They wrote to the woman that she would receive money from an inheritance fund. The perpetrators required data such as an account number or a copy of her identity card in order to process the transaction. They also demanded money for the settlement.
In another case, unknown fraudsters called a woman and pretended to be an employee of her bank. They suggested that a large sum of money had been debited from her account. In order to get this back, the callers allegedly needed various tan numbers.
A man from Wadersloh received an email warning him of an allegedly planned attack on him. The unknown perpetrators asked the man to pay bitcoins, then nothing would happen to him.
Fake police officers stole a 4-digit cash sum from the account of an 89-year-old woman in Ahlen. "Manfred Schneider", allegedly from the Ahlen police, contacted the lady by telephone and told her the story of a Romanian gang that had been caught and a list of names had been found, including the name of the victim.
In our experience, the callers are based abroad and are difficult to trace. However, they work with people who speak good German or are even in the country. Here are a few tips and information:
- The police do not take any valuables or cash for safekeeping
- You can block your cards yourself at any time by calling 116 116
- Bank or government employees never ask for passwords or TAN numbers,
neither on the phone nor in personal contact
- Never pass on personal data or passwords to others
- In case of problems or doubts: hang up,
Call your bank/authorities or relatives yourself and find out the facts
- In case of suspicion, inform the police immediately by calling 110
- Talk to friends, relatives and neighbors about this issueFurther information on how you can protect yourself and what other scams the perpetrators use can be found at the following link from Crime Prevention:
https://www.polizei-beratung.de/themen-und-tipps/betrug/
Our colleagues Carsten Soszynski and Jürgen Gausebeck are also available for free advice. Whether on the phone or face to face. They will answer all your questions.
Tel.: 02581-600-287
Fax: 02581-600-290
Email: KPO.Warendorf [at] polizei.nrw.de