German police warn against fraudulent “shock calls"

German police have launched an awareness campaign around fraudulent “shock calls” (Schockanrufe), in which criminals impersonate residents' family or friends to extort them.

German police launch fraudulent calls awareness week

Federal and state police in Germany have begun an awareness campaign warning residents of the prevalence of so-called “shock calls”. During shock calls, organised criminals call up residents - often those of older age - and pretend to be a family member, friend or someone representing a family member or friend, such as a lawyer or police officer.

Criminals fabricate an urgent situation, for example their loved one is being held in police custody, and tell the call recipient that they can pay to have the situation resolved. In a recent case in Bavaria, a couple in their nineties paid 60.000 euros to “prevent their son from being held in custody after injuring someone”, according to a report from hessenschau.

In more recent cases, organised criminals may use AI tools to replicate someone’s voice and call their loved ones to ask for money or to pay money for them to be “released from police custody”. 

During the campaign week, lasting until November 16, police will run a hotline which residents can call to find out more about how to recognise shock calls, host in-person information events and issue materials, particularly at old-age residential homes.

“Shock call” victims are often too embarrassed to file reports

Police in Germany suspect that many shock call cases go unreported. Through the awareness week, authorities hope to encourage more residents to come forward if they have been the victim of an extortion call.

“Perpetrators shamelessly exploit the good nature of older people using perfidious scams to bring in millions of euros every year,” Interior Minister in North Rhine-Westphalia Herbert Reul (CDU) told the dpa. “Many feel ashamed because they believe strangers and fall for the scams. Due to shame and insecurity they don’t report the crime,” Reul explained.

While older residents are targeted via landlines, scammers use WhatsApp and other popular messenger platforms to target middle-aged and younger people in Germany. If you receive a suspicious WhatsApp message, the Federal Criminal Police Office advises immediately contacting the family member or friend who the message appears to have come from to confirm whether they genuinely sent it. 

Recipients should never save the suspected scam number in their mobile phone or click on any links included in the message. If you have already fallen victim to the scam, you can report the case to the online police watchdog (Onlinewache) here.