Thousands of euros gone

Styrian woman hands over cash to fake police officers

(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

It has happened again: Despite countless warnings from the "real" police, Styrians keep falling for the scam of fake police officers. On Thursday, an 80-year-old woman in Graz-Umgebung was hit. She handed over several thousand euros to the crooks.

On Thursday, an unknown perpetrator used a well-known scam to call an 80-year-old woman in Hausmannstätten. He told the woman that there had been burglaries in her neighborhood. And: She was already on a list for the next break-ins and her money was no longer safe. 

Fraudster came by in person
To secure her valuables, a police officer would come by and take them into custody. The woman apparently agreed and the fraudster was able to cleverly manipulate the woman so that she handed over several thousand euros in cash to the supposed policeman who had come to her house.

He assured her that the money was now safe and that she would get it back the next day. Of course, this was not the case, the money is gone ... 

Fake police officers increasingly active again
The Provincial Police Directorate warns that there is currently an increase in such fraud attempts in Styria and appeals to the population never to hand over cash, jewelry or valuables to strangers. A "real" police officer would never do such a thing.