A woman called the landline of a 71-year-old man and told him that his grandson had caused an accident. Continuing the conversation, the fraudster informed the senior that he had to give PLN 20,000 to a lawyer so that his grandson would not be sent to detention.
Fortunately, the entire conversation was overheard by the man’s son-in-law, who was in his father-in-law’s apartment. He immediately realized that fraudsters were calling and promptly notified the police.
The duty officer at the Municipal Police Headquarters in Legnica instructed the senior not to hand over real money, but to cut up a newspaper into strips and put them in an envelope.
The 71-year-old told the fraudsters that he did not have the stated amount at home. The criminals graciously agreed to accept PLN 17,000. A “lawyer” was supposed to come and collect the money.
A moment later, an 18-year-old resident of the Masovian Voivodeship was caught in an ambush prepared by officers from the Department for Combating Economic Crime.
At the prosecutor’s request, the court remanded the teenager in custody for three months. The young fraudster faces up to eight years in prison.
Officers are determining whether the 18-year-old from Mazovia has committed other frauds.
What should you remember to avoid being defrauded by someone pretending to be a grandchild?
- Do not give money to anyone who calls claiming to be a family member or asks you to hand over cash through an intermediary.
- Do not react hastily when told that a son, daughter, grandson or niece needs financial help. Check whether the person is really a relative.
- Relatives with whom you are in daily contact can help confirm whether the person really needs assistance.
- You can also verify the caller yourself. In most cases, after all, you have the telephone number of your son, daughter or grandson.
- It is better to make one extra phone call than to lose your savings and hand them over to criminals.
- Immediately inform the police about any attempts to extort money.