On 9 January, criminals defrauded a 67-year-old woman in Legnica. A man claiming to be Superintendent Andrzej Sowa from the Municipal Police Headquarters called the Legnica resident. The alleged officer asked the woman why she had failed to appear in response to summonses that had been sent to her several times.

At one point, to confirm his story, the fraudster asked the victim not to hang up and to dial 112 on her telephone keypad.

The Legnica resident then heard the voice of a person cooperating with the fraudster. The person told the 67-year-old that Andrzej Sowa did indeed work at the police headquarters and that he was actually conducting operations targeting fraudsters.

Officers:

When people dial 997 or 112 on their phone keypad, they think they have established a new connection, but in fact they are still speaking with the fraudster, who hands the phone to another person.

Seniors calm down because they believe they are speaking with real police officers.

To gain even more of his victim’s trust, the perpetrator told the Legnica resident that several forged identity cards had been found on a postwoman who was on sick leave, including one in the 67-year-old woman’s name.

The senior woman knew that her postwoman was on sick leave, so she was already convinced that she was speaking with a police officer.

The fake officer ordered the Legnica resident to withdraw money from her account and hand it over to the police.

The woman followed the instructions given over the phone. After a few minutes, she left home and went to the bank, where she withdrew PLN 34,000. (All this time, she thought she was taking part in a secret police operation and helping officers catch the fraudsters.)

The woman then went to the locations indicated by the perpetrator. There, she handed the money to an unknown man.

Police officers:

Let us remember that fraudsters are ruthless—they skillfully manipulate conversations to obtain as much information as possible and exploit older people.

Fraud perpetrators put their victims under time pressure. They do not give them a moment to think or check information about the caller. They convince older people that their money will help catch criminals. They also say that cash kept in a bank account is not safe and that the fraudster can easily access it.

They add:

There are also cases in which criminals posing as officers threaten legal consequences if the person they are speaking to refuses to cooperate. Immediately after the money is handed over, contact is cut off and the criminals disappear with all of the victim’s savings.

Let us not be deceived. Report all such cases to the police by calling 997 or 112.