Eichstätt/Wolfratshausen (dpa/lby) – Tricksters in Bavaria have made fat booty: With the so-called grandchild trick, various people stole a total of over 180,000 euros on Thursday, as the police announced on Friday. According to the police, a woman in her 70s from the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen gave cash and valuables worth 60,000 euros to fraudsters. In Eichstätt, scammers even took 100,000 euros after an 89-year-old woman gave them access to her safe. In the district of Hof, too, a senior citizen handed over 20,000 euros to fraudsters.
All women acted in the belief that the money would save a grandchild from prison. The con artists had tricked the women on the phone into believing that the grandchild had been involved in a fatal accident and should now pay a lot of money to avoid going to jail.
The grandchildren’s trick is usually organized groups that call from call centers. According to the police, fraud often has psychological consequences for people who have been cheated on, in addition to financial damage.
