Officers from the District Police Headquarters in Bolesławiec received a report that an 83-year-old woman had been defrauded on July 31 and lost 6,000 dollars. The officers:
The criminals’ modus operandi was repeated once again—and once again it proved effective. The elderly woman received a call from a man claiming to be a police officer, who said that her son had caused an accident in which a pregnant woman was injured. The senior citizen was told that money was needed for a lawyer to protect her family member from prison.
The woman from Bolesławiec put her savings in an envelope and gave them to a man who appeared near her home.
How can you avoid becoming a fraudster’s victim?
- Above all, remain cautious—if someone calls pretending to be a member of our family and asks for money, do not take any hasty action. Do not tell anyone over the phone how much money we have at home or keep in our account. Do not withdraw all your savings from the bank.
- Let us call someone in the family and ask whether the person who requested our help really needs it. Remember that no one will blame us for acting sensibly. Do not give in to the time pressure applied by fraudsters.
- In particular, remember that police officers NEVER provide information about their cases over the phone! Nor do they ever ask anyone to hand money over to an unknown person.
- If someone tries to defraud us by pretending to be a police officer over the phone—end the call! Do not engage in a conversation with the fraudster. If we do not know how to respond, tell someone close to us about the suspicious call.