Police warn

Fake parcel deliverers collect customs duties

The fraudsters had apparently stolen a parcel that had been delivered and left outside a door.

(Bild: Karl Schöndorfer, Krone KREATIV (Symbolbild))

Brazen fraudsters collected a whopping 141.20 euros in customs duties from a bona fide Hohenems resident. They had apparently stolen the parcel from the drop-off point beforehand. The police are looking for other victims.  

The incident took place almost two months ago. On June 6 at around 1 p.m., two alleged parcel deliverers rang the doorbell of a Hohenems resident who was expecting a parcel from the USA. The two men had the requested parcel with them. They had obviously stolen it beforehand from the drop-off point where the real parcel carrier had left it. 

The duo demanded customs duties of 141.20 euros for the goods delivered from the States. The bona fide recipient gave the alleged deliverers 150 euros in cash and received a receipt with the pre-printed amount of 0.00 euros. After the two men had handed over the parcel, they drove off in a black van.

Fraudsters caught out
It took a while for the man from Hohenems to find out that the customs duties for his shipment were not collected in cash - and that the delivery service employees were not authorized to collect cash either. It was only a few weeks after the crime that he reported it to the police.  

The Hohenems police are now looking for the two fraudsters, an older, somewhat corpulent man and his younger colleague, slim, with a beard, who spoke High German and conducted the conversation. Any other potential victims are asked to contact the police station in Hohenems.