Minister - Bernhardt urges caution with dubious monetary claims
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Consumer Protection Minister Jacqueline Bernhardt has called for particular caution in the face of telephone and internet fraudsters. "Fraud attempts are becoming increasingly perfidious and varied. Especially now during the Advent season, text messages, WhatsApp messages and emails are popping up to defraud consumers of money," said Bernhardt on Tuesday, explaining her appeal.
There are many indications of such fraudulent messages. According to Wiebke Cornelius, head of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern consumer advice center, the number of inquiries received by the advice centers has more than doubled this year. A widespread method is that the alleged child has a new telephone number and is in an emergency situation, which is why money should be transferred, explained Bernhardt.
According to Interior Minister Christian Pegel (SPD), an international police operation was launched in the past two weeks to combat so-called grandchild fraud. Investigators from all 16 federal states, the Federal Criminal Police Office, Poland, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg were involved. "This concentrated, transnational approach not only made it possible to arrest or contribute to the arrest of various participants in this perfidious form of fraud, but also to shed further light on the internationally operating criminal groups and structures," explained the Minister.
During the campaign period, 27 people were identified throughout Germany who were involved in various ways in grandchild fraud. Material damage of around 4.2 million euros was prevented. Pegel also appealed to people to be suspicious of such demands for money and to seek help from acquaintances or the police.
According to Bernhardt, an increasing number of messages are currently making the rounds that a parcel cannot be delivered because the address is missing. "You need to be particularly careful here, because a lot of parcels are sent in the run-up to Christmas. It's easy to lose track of things and then the trap snaps shut."
Even if you are asked to enter your account details via a link, you need to be extremely careful. "As a rule, a reputable bank will not ask you to disclose account details and similar information via email and links," emphasized Bernhardt and advised people to check with their bank, mail order company or children. Anyone who has nevertheless been defrauded should not hesitate to call the police. In general, a healthy distrust of messages from senders whose numbers are unknown is advisable, emphasized Cornelius.
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Source: www.stern.de
