"Grandma/Grandpa, do you know who's here?" or "This is the police. There's been a break-in in the neighborhood. Do you have any money or jewelry in the house?" or the supposedly injured or ill grandson who urgently needs money. Attempted or completed fraud on the telephone has also increased sharply in the Paderborn district. The police receive reports of this almost daily. Older citizens are particularly affected. The sums involved are enormous and the number of unreported cases is high. Unfortunately, the perpetrator groups, which are often highly specialized and operate from abroad, are difficult to locate.
The Paderborn police are also working in many areas to combat the problem. This includes a broad-based campaign on the subject. Under the motto "Shocked on the phone? - Hang up!", the target group of affected senior citizens is specifically addressed with simple messages and warned urgently about the scam. The police have succeeded in recruiting older people from the district to act as testimonials. They give the campaign a face on flyers, posters and postcards as well as in short videos. The materials can be downloaded here on the right-hand side. The videos are displayed in a gallery below.
A second part of the campaign focuses on the target group of relatives. They have the task of warning their older family members and friends about telephone scams. Under the motto "Attention! Inheritance at risk!", faces could also be won over as testimonials. The messages are just as simple and catchy. The corresponding poster can also be downloaded here on the right-hand side.
In addition, the Paderborn police are cooperating with numerous industries in the region (including pharmacies, doctors, churches and sports clubs) that have direct contact with the target group. More are being planned. Relatives are also addressed via extensive social media work and warned against telephone fraud.
The suffering caused by telephone fraudsters to our elderly fellow citizens is great. Many hand over large sums of money, if not their entire assets, because they fall for the perfidious scam of the fraudsters. They are then left traumatized and full of shame. Hang up the phone! Everyone is called upon to spread the word about the campaign and protect our elderly fellow citizens from telephone scams.
HANG UP!
If you have any questions or would like professional advice,
Criminal Investigation Department Crime Prevention/Victim Protection
Phone: 05251 306-3900
Fax: 05251 306-3999
Mail: Kriminalitaetsvorbeugung.Paderborn [at] polizei.nrw.de
Address: Bielefelder Str, 1, 33104 Paderborn