Account of a Munich emptied – 150,000 euros gone
It’s a new scam: A phone call from a fake bank employee cost a Munich resident a fortune. The perpetrators proceeded with skill.
Munich – Rip off when you call! Fraudsters have once again made fat booty in Munich. And: They used a new scam for this. The perpetrators pretended to be a bank employee and then brought in a Munich resident for almost 150,000 euros.
Be careful if you call from the bank! Munich falls for a new scam
At the beginning of December, a 73-year-old received a call from an alleged employee of his savings bank. The man should compare the data on the back of his EC card for alleged authentication. The 73-year-old followed the instructions – and finally sent more information about his bank accounts to the caller.
Bank scammer sends another SMS to confirm
The senior received an SMS for final confirmation of his person. This is how the online banking procedure should be activated. A number of transfers were then made – more than 100 in total – totaling almost 150,000 euros. The fraudsters probably acted cleverly: the amounts of the transfers were all below the amount of 1,000 euros – for transfers above this value, banks have certain safety precautions that take effect. That was not the case immediately at the moment, which is why the fraud was only noticed a few days later.
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When the 73-year-old got a call from his bank – this time from a real employee – the money was already gone. The police could only determine that the booking funds were first transferred to a German account and then to a crypto exchange based in Hong Kong. The further whereabouts of the huge sum is so far unknown.
For the 73-year-old there is probably no chance of getting his money back temporarily. No amounts were saved on the German target account. Police investigations are continuing.
In November alone, Munich seniors were deprived of a million euros: Fraudsters are very successful with the shock call scam on the Isar. That is why the police are breaking new ground: they have published a video in which a person concerned speaks. He put a pickup behind bars.