Gütersloh (FK) - On Wednesday afternoon (22.07.), mainly senior citizens from the Gütersloh area contacted the police and reported an attempted telephone scam.

The scam was always similar: Unknown persons called the senior citizens and initially pretended to be grandchildren in financial difficulties. They pretended to need cash for an alleged property purchase. After the supposed victims told the caller that they would not fall for scammers on the phone, the calls were ended.

A few minutes later, an unknown person calls the victims again. In today's cases, the person pretends to be Mr. Maier from the LKA and asks for a call back on the telephone number *110. This Mr. Maier also stated that he was an investigator in a grandchild fraud case and that he intended to involve the person called as a decoy in his criminal investigation. Mr. Maier then asked for a large amount of cash to be used as a decoy.

In the cases known to date, the senior citizens have ended the calls and then informed the real police about the attempted fraud.

We warn! Do not give any information about valuables or amounts of money over the phone. End the call if you are unsure. If it is a genuine police officer, they will understand your actions. End the call safely. Check whether the connection has been interrupted.

The Gütersloh police have created a video on the so-called call-back trick. This clearly explains the trick.

Talk to us about the grandchild trick and this "new" scam in which another fraudster contacts the person called. If you have any further questions, please call us on 05241 869-0.