Reporting fraud over the phone: There are two details to keep in mind


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Reporting fraud over the phone: There are two details to keep in mind

Keep this in mind when reporting phishing scams.

Keep this in mind when reporting phishing scams.

Photo: Getty Images / JGI / Jamie Grill, Icons8 [M] Via Canva.com




Updated: May 3, 2021 – 5:49 p.m.

Should you report fraud over the phone and go to the police? Here’s the tip of a spam protection expert.

If you are called from a number that has been blocked or that you do not know, which is clearly an unwanted call, it can be very annoying – especially if the calls are extremely frequent. However, in the best cases, the calls are annoying. At worst, you can Telephone bridge Fall in love with her and possibly lose money. How to behave then these measures are recommended.


If in doubt, ask these questions

  • “where did you get my number?”
  • “Whom are you calling?”
  • Why are you calling me a closed number?

Concerning phone fraud: when should it be reported?

According to Section 7 of the UWG (Anti-Unfair Competition Act) spam calls are “unreasonable harassment.” The number must not be hidden for advertising purposes. A fine may be imposed in case of violation. If you get regular calls from a spam number and suspect phone fraud – should you go to the police and file a complaint?

According to Thomas Ruble, an anti-spam expert at Clever Dialer, it depends on whether the damage is caused by a spam call. For example, if your money was stolen in a phone scam, this is the case. You should also file a complaint if you are being stalked or sexually harassed – even if the number is withheld. In this case, phone fraud is more than an administrative offense. It may be a criminal offense.

Examples of phone fraud

Thomas Wrobel explains with two examples when a police report is necessary and when you can act on your own:

Example: Reporting to the police

“Max’s unpaid electricity bill Max was informed by phone that his electricity would soon be cut off due to an open electricity bill. Fearing sitting in the dark, he promptly transferred the required amount. Soon after, Max became suspicious and called the service provider who knew nothing about the bill.” Since Max was already cheated out of a certain amount of money, he reported it to the police the next day. ”

Example: Act yourself

“Pia’s ping call dilemma, Pia received five calls from the same number on her cell phone in the past hour. Her cell phone only rang very briefly, and it appears the presumed caller is waiting for a call again. Pia cannot avoid the so-called ping calls instead. From that, she downloads the spam protection app on her cell phone to block the number. She also informs the Federal Network Agency of the number. A visit to the police here is not successful in most cases, because such calls often come from abroad. “

This is how you act on your own

If you are still receiving calls from the same number and suspect that it might be phone fraud, then you can, for example, use Android apps to block unwanted calls on your mobile phone. You can also block annoying ad calls from Apple. So you know and block ping calls. These unknown numbers have already been marked as spam calls

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Brooke Vargas

"Devoted gamer. Webaholic. Infuriatingly humble social media trailblazer. Lifelong internet expert."

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