Fake police officers defraud two women of large sums by phone

Scammers posing as police officers defrauded two elderly women of large sums in Germany’s Börde district, according to police. The two cases involved a total of 47,000 euros, and the suspects have not been caught.

In Haldensleben, callers demanded 17,000 euros from an 87-year-old woman. They claimed the payment would prevent her grandson from being detained. Two unidentified people later collected the money at her home.

In Oschersleben, a caller posing as a police employee told a 79-year-old woman that her daughter had caused a traffic accident in which a toddler was injured. The woman handed over 20,000 euros as supposed bail. The caller then contacted her again and demanded another 10,000 euros, saying the first payment was insufficient.

The daughter arrived afterward, exposing the fraud. Police advised people not to respond to requests for money transfers by phone and to end such calls immediately. Neither police nor prosecutors demand telephone payments to free allegedly detained relatives.