Con artist posing as cop bilks elderly Swiss woman of 45,000 francs

Con artist posing as cop bilks elderly Swiss woman of 45,000 francs
Updated on

Summary Last week's incident in the eastern canton of Graubuenden was a new twist on the old trick.

(Reuters) - A fraudster persuaded a 75-year-old Swiss woman to transfer 45,000 francs ($46,225) to him as a "police officer" supposedly taking part in a nationwide program to guard elderly people against telephone scams.

Last week’s incident in the eastern canton of Graubuenden was a new twist on the old trick of getting elderly people to send money to a supposed favorite grandchild in trouble, police said on Monday.

"Be suspicious of supposed police who call speaking high German," a police statement advised residents of the region, where many speak German and Romansch dialects very different from the "Hochdeutsch" (high German) spoken in Germany.

Browse Topics