Recently, numerous fraud attempts have been recorded in which criminals impersonate either a police officer or an officer of the Central Police Investigation Bureau. Let us remember: the police NEVER inform people by telephone about cases they are conducting and never ask anyone to hand money over to an unknown person. NEVER do they ask us to use our private money for any operation!
In Wrocław alone, scammers attempted 12 times in recent days to extort money from older people by impersonating a police or CBŚP officer. However, thanks to the vigilance of the potential victims, the scammers’ efforts ended in failure. Unfortunately, there are still cases in which the scammer comes out on top.
One example is a 63-year-old resident of Wrocław who, after receiving a call from a fake officer claiming to be investigating a group of scammers, lost nearly PLN 30,000. The scammer told the victim to withdraw the money from the bank and then leave it in a designated place. The woman only realized afterward that she had fallen victim to a criminal. Similar scams also occur in other Lower Silesian counties and regions of the country.
The police advise:
- strictly follow the principle of limited trust, especially in situations requiring our financial assistance
- inform the police about every attempted fraud
- consult your relatives
- do not hand any money or valuables to people claiming to be uniformed service officers
- ask anyone claiming to be an officer to identify themselves—which they are required to do—by giving their rank, first and last name, place of service, or personnel identification number. We recommend writing down the information and then confirming whether the person is actually an officer.
To make it possible to verify a caller in similar circumstances involving an alleged police officer, the Provincial Police Headquarters in Wrocław has established a special number: 71 343 68 65.
KWP Wrocław/ii