Telephone fraud - 27 arrests in operation against grandchild fraudsters
Investigators from Germany, Poland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and the European police authority Europol have launched an international operation against so-called grandchild fraudsters. 27 suspects were arrested between November 27 and December 8, as the Berlin public prosecutor's office announced on Tuesday. 74 crimes with an estimated loss of five million euros were prevented.
According to the information, around 1,000 officers were involved daily in the two-week operation, which was led by the Baden-Württemberg State Criminal Police Office (LKA) and coordinated by the Berlin LKA in consultation with the Berlin public prosecutor's office.
According to the information provided, the suspects claimed on the phone, mainly to elderly people, that a family member had caused a car accident and that only the immediate payment of a high bail could avoid imprisonment.
The police have also observed that the suspects have recently been choosing their victims with the help of obituaries. From the obituaries, they learn the names of the children of the deceased, who are then named as the alleged perpetrators in front of the bereaved. The suspects thus take advantage of the time of mourning.
Thanks to the cross-border cooperation of all the departments involved, it was possible to arrest not only suspects who were responsible for logistics and collecting money, but also callers. The dismantling of a call center in a suburb of Warsaw was cited as a major success. In Lippstadt in North Rhine-Westphalia, two suspects were arrested during a money transfer.
Press release
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- The Public Prosecutor's Office in Berlin highlighted that this international operation against telephone fraudsters was not just a German issue, as officials from Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Poland, and Europol also participated.
- The German Federal Criminal Police Office (LKA) took the lead in coordinating this operation, working closely with the Berlin Public Prosecutor's Office and other participating agencies.
- The Telephone Fraud operation uncovered cases involving 'grandchild scams,' where the suspects would call elderly individuals, claim that a family member was in trouble, and demand an immediate payment to avoid legal consequences.
- Additionally, the Police observed a recent trend in which the suspects used obituaries to learn the names of the deceased's children, later portraying them as perpetrators to exploit the victims during their time of mourning.
- The international intervention resulted in the arrest of 27 suspects between November 27 and December 8, preventing 74 crimes with an estimated loss of five million euros.
- In light of this cooperative effort against transnational criminality, Austria, Germany, and Europol reaffirmed their commitment to working together to combat similar cases of telephone fraud in the future.
Source: www.stern.de
