Senior woman loses over 100,000 euros: fraudsters act as fake police officers!

Senior woman loses over 100,000 euros: fraudsters act as fake police officers!

A 74-year-old senior citizen from Leipzig fell victim to an unscrupulous fraud on Saturday evening in which she lost more than 100,000 euros. The fraudster posed as a police officer in a phone call and warned the woman about an alleged Romanian gang of thieves. To keep her valuables safe, he advised her to find a safe place for her jewelry as she was about to be robbed the next day. Full of trust in the perpetrator's supposed information, the elderly woman gave him high-quality jewelry at an agreed meeting in the center-northwest of Leipzig. The fake police officer then walked away from the handover location. The police described this case as unusual because such amounts are usually identified quickly. The previous June, fake police officers had robbed a 97-year-old man in Leipzig of tens of thousands of euros. The specialist commissioner for fraud offenses has started investigations in this current case as well as in other investigations into official presumption, such as [LVZ].

Extensive investigations into gang-related fraud have now led to the arrests of three suspects. These people are suspected of being involved in several fraud cases in Germany. The investigations were driven forward in particular by the Leipzig public prosecutor's office for cybercrime and the “Shock” investigation group of the Leipzig criminal police. The investigative work was originally intensified after an attempted fraud on a 62-year-old woman from Leipzig, which took place on January 6, 2025. She received a call from a fake police officer who informed her about alleged break-ins in her area. A male accomplice also introduced himself as a police officer and asked for cash and valuables. When the victim became suspicious and did not open the door, she informed the police, who were able to arrest the perpetrator who had picked her up, a 23-year-old man with a Turkish background, on site.

Arrests and investigations

In the subsequent investigations, two further suspects, both male and aged 24 and 25, were identified as “logistics” and “clients” within the fraud gang. Searches in Chemnitz and Waldbüttelbrunn on April 10, 2025 led to the seizure of evidence and cash, which led investigators to the current arrest warrants against the two men, which were issued on April 8 and 10. The close cooperation between the authorities involved contributed to this success of the investigation. The public is urged to be cautious about suspicious calls and to report such incidents to the police immediately. In this context, Die Sachsen also reports on the ongoing measures to protect citizens from fraudsters.