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Munich (AP) - jewelry, gold and tens of thousands of euros in cash: Today (9:30 a.m.) the trial against two alleged fraudsters begins at the Munich I district court.
They allegedly posed as fake police officers and stole a fortune from several old people.
They are charged with commercial and gang fraud and gang theft.
The trial against other alleged members of the gang had already started on Thursday.
The crime scenes of the accused are Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich.
In one case, the defendants allegedly got an elderly woman from Munich to put gold coins and banknotes on a strip of green behind her house, where they were then picked up.
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Again and again, older people in particular fall for the widespread scam in which alleged police officers - mostly from call centers in Turkey - call and get their victims to surrender money, jewelry and other valuables.
The police keep warning against it, but fraudsters are often successful.
According to the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (LKA), this is also due to the fact that when calling with the help of manipulated phone numbers (the so-called call ID spoofing), the local area code is often displayed in connection with the police emergency number or the central number of the LKA or the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) becomes.
Usually, the person called is then asked to hand over valuables to an alleged colleague - either to protect them from theft or because alleged traces such as fingerprints have to be secured.
"The legend used is expanded over hours and the injured party is put under increasing pressure," said the LKA.
"Here the injured parties are directed in such a way that there is a constant telephone connection so that the perpetrators retain control of the situation."
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According to the LKA, the number of these or similar frauds (such as grandchildren's trick) is increasing.
In 2018, 17,000 cases were reported, in 2019 there were already 21,000.
On average, the fraudsters captured around 8,000 euros.
"However, some cases have already become known in which the victims were cheated out of six-figure amounts," said an LKA spokesman.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210108-99-940463 / 3