February 8, 07.43, Scam, Norrköping

On Saturday, the police issued a warning about the wave of physical vishing targeting elderly people in Östergötland. On Saturday evening, another elderly woman was targeted, this time in Hageby in Norrköping.

The method used was the same as in a dozen cases over the past few weeks, where they pose as the landlord and claim to arrange for smoke detectors. Yesterday, the perpetrators obtained bank cards before leaving the scene.

The police have been on the scene, but there is currently no suspected perpetrator.

At the moment, the police are seeing an increase in two different methods of physical vishing. In addition to the modus operandi with smoke detectors, it is also common for scammers to pose as "Waterworks" and say there is a water leak and that they need to come in to check. The police have five cases over the past few days, with two being completed scams.

The scammers are skilled, eloquent, and persuasive, and try to scare the victim into offering their "help".

In addition to the above-mentioned methods, scammers can pose as a government agency, such as the police. They then try to scare the victim to gain access to the apartment. Once inside, they steal valuable items, or one of them searches the apartment while the other keeps the victim occupied.

For the victim, this often becomes a difficult trauma. Often, large sums of money and life savings disappear from accounts, or valuable items are taken, often with high emotional value.

The police have clear warnings to avoid being scammed:

- Be bold and be rude! Hang up the phone!

- Do not respond to SMS or messages with links, and never give away your bank ID!

- Never let unknown people into your home.

- If you are called by someone claiming to be from the police or another institution and asking about bank information or announcing a home visit – always call the police on 112.

- If you have elderly relatives or friends – talk to them about this!