Fraudster breaks into 74-year-old’s apartment in the middle of the night
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A pensioner from Dettenhofen was called by a fake police officer around midnight. Shortly afterwards, a man appeared at her door – and she let him in.
Dettenhofen – A 74-year-old woman fell victim to con artists on Friday night in the Dettenhofen district of Dießen. What at first glance sounds like one case among many, but closer inspection reveals two details that distinguish it from other acts of this kind. “This case is very unusual,” said a spokeswoman for the Upper Bavaria North police headquarters in an interview with Starnberger Merkur.
On the one hand, there is the time of the crime: The 74-year-old was called around midnight by a previously unknown perpetrator, as the police department announced. “Such cases usually occur during the day,” says the spokeswoman. The caller pretended to be a police officer and led the pensioner to believe that a suspicious man had just been caught. He had a note with him that said that gold and jewelry could be found at the woman’s home.
The caller engaged the woman in conversation before her apartment door rang at around 12:40 a.m. A man stood outside who also identified himself as a police officer and explained that he wanted to take photos of the valuables in order to then present them to the insurance company and the public prosecutor’s office. The 74-year-old let the man into her apartment and presented him with her savings. It is also unusual for a so-called pick-up person to go into apartments and stay there for several minutes.
When the elderly woman began to put away the valuables and left the room for a short time, the criminal took advantage of the opportunity and pocketed cash as well as gold and silver coins. He then left the house. The police did not yet know on Friday how much damage was caused by the loot. A detailed personal description of the perpetrator was also not available. All that is known is that he is said to be 1.70 to 1.75 meters tall and around 30 years old.
The Fürstenfeldbruck criminal police have taken over the investigation and are renewing their warnings. This includes: “Don’t let yourself be put under pressure and if in doubt, just hang up. Always talk to people close to you about unusual telephone calls. Never talk about your personal and financial circumstances on the phone. As a general rule, never hand over money to strangers and never leave valuables outside the door to be picked up. As a general rule, never let strangers into your apartment.”