They operated like an international mafia with headquarters in Warsaw. They cheated “for their grandson”
Officers from several formations from different countries were involved in breaking up a group that could be called the international mafia. She could have extorted millions of euros using the “grandchild scam” method. Unfortunately, there is a Polish accent here: its telephone exchange is located in Warsaw.
German policemen from 16 Länder and the Federal Criminal Police Office, Polish policemen from the Warsaw Directorate of the Central Police Investigation Bureau and other Police units, as well as officers from Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg, plus support from Europol – a total of about a thousand officers. All these forces were used to dismantle an international ring that could extort millions of euros using the “grandchild scam” method. Its telephone exchange was located in Warsaw.
The “grandchild” method. 29 charges against two Polish women
27 people were detained. A woman and a man were caught red-handed and took over PLN 12,000. euros in cash from an 85-year-old victim. German investigators accuse these detainees of also committing three other crimes in different regions of Germany.
One of the greatest successes was the liquidation of the telephone exchange operating in Warsaw. CBŚP police detained two women, aged 22 and 35. The collected evidence shows that the suspects called potential victims in Germany. In the rented house, the police found and secured, among others: laptop, mobile phones and phone cards used for this practice, as well as two luxury watches worth over PLN 90,000. euro and 15 thousand euros in cash.
The District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw charged both women with a total of 29 counts of attempting to commit fraud. At the same time, the prosecutor initiated an investigation into the activities of an organized criminal group whose members committed fraud in Poland and Germany. A preventive measure was taken against the detainees in the form of pre-trial detention for a period of three months.
The case is an ongoing development and the officers do not rule out further arrests.
