Seniors in Oberallgäu lose six-figure sums to fraudsters!

Seniors in Oberallgäu lose six-figure sums to fraudsters!

The current wave of fraud in Oberallgäu is particularly affecting the older generation. A married couple, both 82 years old, recently fell for a perfidious scam in which the perpetrators posed as police officers. Loud Allgäu newspaper The fraudsters claimed that burglars had been arrested in the neighborhood and that the couple's assets were in danger. The fugitive couple, very insecure, gave the perpetrators a six-figure sum in the form of cash and precious metals.

The seniors were extremely cooperative. They placed their valuables in a cooking pot at the entrance to the house and waited in their apartment for further instructions. A man and a woman picked up the loot and are now on the run. The police are encouraging the public to be careful, in particular such scams are increasingly similar to cyber fraud in their professionalism and sophistication. In the current year 2023 alone, around 400 cases of fraud have already been reported in the region.

The numbers speak volumes

The developments are alarming. In 2022, the Swabia South/West Police Headquarters registered around 159 cases of call center fraud and the perpetrators were successful in nine cases, stealing a total of around 280,000 euros. In comparison, the loss this year is already around 220,000 euros, with ten successful cases. The trend shows a significant increase in cases of fraud, which is increasingly causing concern not only in Oberallgäu but nationwide. According to the Federal Office for Information Security, there will be an increase of over 50 percent in cyber fraud against older people in 2023.

The perpetrators rely on constantly refined methods and concentrate particularly on online banking, using sophisticated phishing and fraudulent emails that often appear deceptively genuine. These developments make it clear that seniors today are faced with completely new challenges that often put their online banking skills to a tough test.

Prevention is the be-all and end-all

The police have therefore put together some important advice to protect older people from such scams. It is strongly advised:

• Die Polizei holt niemals Geld oder Wertgegenstände ab.
• Anrufe von der Notrufnummer ‚110‘ sind nicht vertrauenswürdig.
• Unter Druck gesetzte Anrufe sollten ignoriert werden.
• Keine Unbekannten in die Wohnung lassen.
• Verlangen Sie einen Dienstausweis von angeblichen Amtspersonen.
• Rufen Sie im Zweifelsfall die Behörde selbst an.
• Details zu Ihren finanziellen Verhältnissen sollten nicht am Telefon preisgegeben werden.
• Sprechen Sie mit Verwandten, Freunden oder Nachbarn über den Betrug und seine Prävention.

Protection and education are paramount and police are appealing to the community to be vigilant and inform one another. This is the only way to maintain trust in your own four walls and to ensure successful fraud prevention. While fraudsters' methods continue to evolve, it is important that we all remain vigilant together.