Senior woman in Steinfurt victim of perfidious call fraud – police warn!

Senior woman in Steinfurt victim of perfidious call fraud – police warn!

On September 2, 2025, a senior citizen in Cologne became the victim of sophisticated call fraudsters. The perpetrators posed as both bank employees and detectives and unsettled the older men and women with their perfidious tricks. Loud news.de The first call came from a fake bank employee who told the senior citizen that there had been unauthorized debits from her account. To stop the alleged abuse, he asked her to hand her bank card to an employee who would collect it personally.

As it turned out, the scam was well thought out. The person collecting the money actually showed up at the senior citizen's house and showed a fake ID card from the savings bank. After this supposed authorization, the senior felt safe enough to hand over her bank card. Immediately afterwards, she received another call from a supposed detective who informed her of the alleged investigation and encouraged her to put cash and jewelry in a bag and leave it on the doorstep. What then followed was the loss of a low four-digit euro amount. Only then did the senior citizen have her doubts and have her bank card blocked.

The increase in fraud cases among seniors

Unfortunately, such incidents are not isolated cases. The Federal Consumer Assistance has found that seniors are increasingly being targeted by fraudsters. The organization reports a worrying increase in fraud cases, often manifested by preying on the good faith of older people. This not only leads to financial losses, which could amount to an estimated $4.47 billion in 2025, but also to a crisis of confidence in the financial sector.

In addition, cases of fraud among senior citizens are reaching alarming proportions. In the first five months of 2024, older people in the U.S. alone lost over $1.6 billion to scams, which is nearly $300 million more than last year. Experts agree that preventive measures must be taken through education and awareness-raising to better protect these vulnerable groups.

The most common scams

The most common types of scams targeting seniors include, but are not limited to:

• Tech-Support-Betrug
• Investitionsbetrug
• Vertrauens- und Liebesbetrug
• Datenschutzverletzungen

The average losses per victim, which exceeded $33,000 in 2023, are staggering. As was also noted in Cologne, seniors should always check suspicious calls and monitor their accounts regularly.

The police strongly warn against allowing yourself to be put under pressure and advise you to stop calls from unknown people immediately. Reliable institutions such as banks and authorities never request that money, valuables and bank cards be handed over to unknown people. These values ​​should always remain in safe custody.

We all have to have a good hand when it comes to protecting older citizens. Because together we can put a stop to these fraudsters.