New scam: So telephone scammers make millions in Munich
Success for the police: They arrested a so-called collector. The 45-year-old is one of the criminals from Poland who make millions in Munich by shock phone call. The number of cases is increasing rapidly. With a perfidious scam, seniors are tricked into giving out six-figure sums.
Not a week goes by without immense damage: The latest figures from the Munich police show how bad the damage is that telephone scammers cause. According to this, criminals have already made 4.5 million euros with shock calls. And this year alone! For comparison: in 2021 the damage in Munich was 240,000 euros. Now the police have managed to catch one of the nasty scammers. A million loot goes to his account alone.
False cops are already behind bars
“We have a massive problem with shock calls in Munich,” clarifies Hans-Peter Chloupek. He heads the Phenomena working group in the executive committee and has been hunting the unscrupulous criminals for years. It takes nerve. Because: As soon as a success is celebrated, a new abyss opens up. In October, the police, in cooperation with their colleagues on the Bosporus, managed to break up a ring of call centers in six Turkish cities: 34 bogus police officers are behind bars. Since then, according to Chloupek, there hasn’t been a case in which the wrong police officer could strike in Munich. Instead, Polish criminals clear up with shock calls. “They work in a highly professional and organized manner.” No longer just in the family group – as in the past with the grandchildren’s trick.
45-year-old Pole picked up 1.2 million euros in loot
The collectors only come to the country for a short time and grab the loot, which is often more than 100,000 euros per case. The money is handed over at the border and disappears there forever. The 45-year-old Pole, who is now being caught by the police in Bamberg, is also part of this system. He was involved in 15 cases across Bavaria to cheat seniors out of their money. It’s about 1.2 million euros.
This is how the crooked scam of the scammers works: When you receive a shock call, an alleged police officer is on the phone. His story: A relative (child or grandchild) caused a fatal accident. The person called usually hears someone cry briefly. Sometimes the phone is passed on to an alleged public prosecutor: the person called is asked to bail his loved one out of jail. According to the police, the scam is sneaky: Because it’s about the family, the person called reacts very emotionally.
The police advise:
▶ Calls an alleged police officer or prosecutor: Just hang up!
▶ Take a deep breath, don’t panic – nothing bad happened!
▶ Then get help: the right police or a repeated call.
▶ Generally advisable: Have your entry deleted from the public phone book. Scammers are looking for older names