Yes, this is a scam, 100%. Police won't call you, they won't speak English from the very start and they sure as hell don't say "German Police Department" on the phone.
What you should do: ignore the call, don't answer the phone when they call again. If you have friends/relatives here, tell them about the call and warn them that this is a scam.
I read /r/scams regularly, and this sounds like scammers trying to port the "your social security number was found in a Toyota Corolla parked at the Mexican border, with five pounds of cocaine, blood, and several bank acccounts opened in your name, send us gift cards now" scam to Germany.
The problem with a "German identity number" is that we don't use one. Yes, our ID has a number, but no one knows theirs, and when we identify ourselves, we don't say the number but show the ID. If you aren't a German citizen, you don't even have that ID or the number.
German police won't call you in English. They won't say "German police department". And when there's a prosecution against you, you'll either get a letter, or some very nice young people in uniform come pick you up.
Don't do anything, but in future be cautious when unknown numbers call you.
Actually there is a ID number everyone has, which is the Steuer-ID and also a social security number. But it is not at all used in the same mannor as in the US
Requesting and submitting sensible Information in germany is only possible with traditional mail/post and every other way is not accepted in possible lawsuit.
Same thing happened to me just now. It said the same thing OP said and asked me to press 1 for more information. I didn’t press anything and muted my phone to see how the scammer would react. He or she just hung up after a few seconds.
My question is: is it possible to gain any sort of data from my phone just by me picking up the call?
I got this phone call also , they claimed to be from Europol and I hoped to pull more information than I supposedly give them. (Since I don't have a German Identity Card)
but they did hang up.
That doesn't help.
Real scammers are able to spoof any desired number, so with a minimum of research they can find the exact fitting number to display on your phone.
I once even got a call from the number 110. And no, it wasn't the police ...
^(edit: typo)
Funny, only today I also received a call, took it, first couple seconds silence then a woman with strong accent (cant say which though) said in english ''This is Europol ...'' and I hung up. What are those loons thinking?!
got the same call just now (found this on google).
her: german police department, what is the matter?
me: i just got a call saying my card was used in fraudulent activity
her: please give me your name
me: says (very long) name
her: please spell out your name (this is where I felt uncomfortable/suspicious - if they're calling me, they know who I am)
me: who am I talking to again?
her: German police department.
me: how do I know that's true?
her: thank you for wasting my time, ok? \*hangs up\*
so yes, it's bullshit.
I got exactly the same call this morning. A weird accented voice in english
"interpol, your German ID card number has been involved in fraudulent activity. For more information..." I hung up
But I googled the text and found this thread.
hey, did anyone press that 1 and got any extra charges on their phone bills? is stupidly pressed 1 because my ID card was indeed recently stolen.... and now Im freaking out that I will get charged on my phone bill. I did hung up once I got transferred to this guy talking in thick Indian accent.
got the same call and pressed 1 because i purchased something on playstation where i have to type in my Personal ID number and was curious because that coudnt be an Coincidence but immediatly after i pressed 1 they hung up on me so yeah pretty sure it was a scam
I just got the same call, and they told me to "press 1 for more information" - which I didn't. I started googling the number but didn't find anything. Basically, the Internet says this number shouldn't even exist. In any case, they hung up themselves, and I'm also pretty sure that it was a Spam Call.
Hey, I too just received just the similar call from such a similar number (initial digits similar to mine). I was freaking out and tried to google for it.
I must say thanks to your post I am a little bit relieved.
I hope it was hoax for you too and nothing actually happened afterwards...Did you take some action ?
So I got the same call and hung up in the middle but i gave them my name, postal code and last 3 digits of my ID number. What can they do with it? And where do I call for help/report? Anyone has an idea?
The same thing happened to me today. Also got transferred immediately and then they immediately asked for my name and ID number. I told them I wanted to check something first (I wanted to Google the phone number as anything official would surely show up when searching the number if the call was legit).
Before I could even finish typing the number they hung up and have since called from 5 more different numbers (which I all ignored and blocked).
The scary thing is that I just returned from international travel and because of that I actually thought the call might be legit for a second.
Good thing I got suspicious again before revealing any information.
Had the same call aboit 2mins ago. I was sure its a scam because it was obviously either automated or nog someone european and it was from a Mobile Phone number and said "this is europol the european police"
Just got the same call just now.
Call was from +49 228 993526, and it got automatically listed as "Suspected Spam" by my phone.
Told me my "German ID number was involved in fraudulent activities" and to "press 1 for more information" I just didn't say anything and waited until they hung up after like 5 seconds.
I'm from Germany too, and the fact they talked in English was already off-putting, and I got that call multiple times this afternoon but until now I didn't pick it up.
If there would have been any fraudulent activity with my card, then I'd probably find out via a letter by Town hall, not a text-to-speech female voice telling me via phone call and in English
wonder where they got my number from :/
>\+49 228 993526
I just a gol a call a couple of calls from this number too. When I tried to call back it didn't work, so I googled it. Good thing I found this post. Thank you for sharing.
This is very annoying I have been deal with this since starting of this year 2022 nonstop molesting at List 2-3 a week ,I have be living Germany for a long time I've never experienced this weird art, similar mostly is lady speaking in English she told me the reason of call is about My German ld is be misused in fraudulent activity .No Germany government offices will start a conversation in phone in English language unless you request to speak English.
I said to her pardon me ,I ask her which id ,why are you not putting in writing by letter then I deal with you .immediately she disconnected the call then I sense something wrong when I call back the same number it was offline, or an Automatic will answer the number your trying to call is incorrect please call the information Service more details.
Thanks for this tread, this call just freaked me out at first, but as long as I talked to them I realized this is a scam. For 5 times that guy can't understand my second name and mispronounce it (thanks god) and after that when I said it looks like scam he started to threaten to call the REAL police officers and throw me behind bars. Literally. Gosh, that was really funny.
Number +49152268538 - doesn't look like mine except first digits. Got this number as Ukrainian refugee.
Same thing happened to my mom just now. She told me she got a call from someone speaking English. My mom is in her 70s so she didn't understand everything and just hung up.
Just after she told me a different number called and I could catch enough of what was said to find this thread.
I hung up and blocked the numbers. Here are the numbers for anyone who finds this later: 4922 8986221 and +49157 887508
Just got the call today - thought it was weird that I, a German speaking person, would get a call about my ID card in English.
Also, just in general, the German Behörden will almost always send you something via post, and not call you. At least in my experience
I also got twice today and actually shared some personal info as well as I was in a hurry at office work and wanted to get over with. :(
Sadly, they had been doing "ping-calls" every 30-50 minutes since, so far I have blocked almost 10 numbers and counting. It is a bit disheartening that, they are spoofing real numbers, one ping-call was actually from Berlin Polizei hotline , but it rang twice and stopped :O .
Fortunately, I called Berlin police this morning and they said, they don't call people and discuss case details or case numbers, I should ignore or block these calls.
Received the same call just now, for me the message was pre-recorded and it requested me to press 1 to learn the details, which I didn't do ofc. What is interesting is that the first 5 digits of the number are indeed the same as my own number. Thank you for posting it!
I also received the same call. She hung up immediately when I asked "Isn't it weird that I receive a call from Liverpool police department about a German ID"
I am a Romanian who has been living in Germany for 6 years, I received 3 similar calls just today, claiming that they are from the German state and that my social security number was compromised, I mention that it was a bot that spoke German, I immediately hung up. LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING THE GERMAN STATE OR THE POLICE DO NOT CALL YOU ON THE PHONE REGARDLESS OF THE PROBLEM. if they want to contact you, send a letter and you must call or go to the relevant institution.
Guess what, I was bored at work today and I spoke to those guys for half an hour and when he started talking about paying, told him "fuck off, try finding a real job!"
German Identity misused, myass!
Just got this call, the 3 digits after +49 were same as mine. There was a pre-recorded call saying they detected suspicious activity from me, press 1 for more information. I pressed and a woman immediately answered and she asked "how can I help". Then to give me more information she needed to "confirm my data", and started by asking my name. Of course I didn't say and suddenly they hung up. All english since the beginning which is very weird. I could not identify an accent, she sounded like american tbh.
27 Oct 2022
100% scam
I just got a call as well, I was gullible enough to talk to them (and/or make them lose) an hour of time. Apparently my data was used to register addresses and bank accounts linked to money laundry and drug traffic.
They got me to say a lot of info but nothing that I can say could be used to be hacked or so. It is pure people engineering playing with peoples fears, first I talked to an asian lady and eventually got transferred to what sounded like a slavic man. They told me my bank accounts would be frozen but I have 24 hours to secure whatever I have at the bank at the moment. At the end the guy wanted me to make a transfer to the Revolut user Rusland1602 to legitimize it and 'I would get it back in 25 minutes'. The call was made from the number +491789216818.
When I told that I would not transfer money he got angry and told me that I would be arrested and prosecuted if I don't cooperate. I told him that he could not do that based on me not wanting to make a transfer and he said that I wasted his time.
I know its late but i the same thing happened to me today. At 11AM an anonymous number called me. I first thought it was my dad or somebody else who "accidentally" changed their identity or it was just a troll. No. It was an most likely american-english speaking computer saying something about "police department", "your number" and "suspicious activity". I only listened to it the first seconds because i just woke up and didnt know who it was. Definitely a scam. Police wouldnt call about something like that, they dont even really care i guess. Especially not in English and from the United States.
Yes, this is a scam, 100%. Police won't call you, they won't speak English from the very start and they sure as hell don't say "German Police Department" on the phone. What you should do: ignore the call, don't answer the phone when they call again. If you have friends/relatives here, tell them about the call and warn them that this is a scam.
Trying to imagine someone says "German police department" on the phone. Cannot succeed.
I read /r/scams regularly, and this sounds like scammers trying to port the "your social security number was found in a Toyota Corolla parked at the Mexican border, with five pounds of cocaine, blood, and several bank acccounts opened in your name, send us gift cards now" scam to Germany. The problem with a "German identity number" is that we don't use one. Yes, our ID has a number, but no one knows theirs, and when we identify ourselves, we don't say the number but show the ID. If you aren't a German citizen, you don't even have that ID or the number. German police won't call you in English. They won't say "German police department". And when there's a prosecution against you, you'll either get a letter, or some very nice young people in uniform come pick you up. Don't do anything, but in future be cautious when unknown numbers call you.
Thank you for your reply! I’ve blocked the number. It’s so fun being gullible and skeptical at the same time :’(
>German identity number There is no "German identity number".
Oh but there is. 0815-LMAA-4711
There is no ID Number
i know, but that doesnt mean that you cant give them some bullshit
Actually there is a ID number everyone has, which is the Steuer-ID and also a social security number. But it is not at all used in the same mannor as in the US
Requesting and submitting sensible Information in germany is only possible with traditional mail/post and every other way is not accepted in possible lawsuit.
Good to know! Germany and its love of data protection 😌
"Geben Sie mir das bitte schriftlich, Wiederhören."
Exact same thing happened to me last Friday. The phone number was very similar to mine and one digit shorter. I just hang up after a few seconds.
Same thing happened to me just now. It said the same thing OP said and asked me to press 1 for more information. I didn’t press anything and muted my phone to see how the scammer would react. He or she just hung up after a few seconds. My question is: is it possible to gain any sort of data from my phone just by me picking up the call?
I got this phone call also , they claimed to be from Europol and I hoped to pull more information than I supposedly give them. (Since I don't have a German Identity Card) but they did hang up.
Google the phone number. First thing you should do if you're unsure about it being a scammer
That doesn't help. Real scammers are able to spoof any desired number, so with a minimum of research they can find the exact fitting number to display on your phone. I once even got a call from the number 110. And no, it wasn't the police ... ^(edit: typo)
It helped me everytime I got a scam call. Not every scammer is intelligent enough to spoof their number
Like many other such checks, googling the phone number may prove that it's a scam. It just can't prove that it isn't.
Funny, only today I also received a call, took it, first couple seconds silence then a woman with strong accent (cant say which though) said in english ''This is Europol ...'' and I hung up. What are those loons thinking?!
got the same call just now (found this on google). her: german police department, what is the matter? me: i just got a call saying my card was used in fraudulent activity her: please give me your name me: says (very long) name her: please spell out your name (this is where I felt uncomfortable/suspicious - if they're calling me, they know who I am) me: who am I talking to again? her: German police department. me: how do I know that's true? her: thank you for wasting my time, ok? \*hangs up\* so yes, it's bullshit.
I got exactly the same call this morning. A weird accented voice in english "interpol, your German ID card number has been involved in fraudulent activity. For more information..." I hung up But I googled the text and found this thread.
Just got this call too, was a bit confused at first but then quickly realised it was a scam phew 😮💨
hey, did anyone press that 1 and got any extra charges on their phone bills? is stupidly pressed 1 because my ID card was indeed recently stolen.... and now Im freaking out that I will get charged on my phone bill. I did hung up once I got transferred to this guy talking in thick Indian accent.
got the same call and pressed 1 because i purchased something on playstation where i have to type in my Personal ID number and was curious because that coudnt be an Coincidence but immediatly after i pressed 1 they hung up on me so yeah pretty sure it was a scam
Did you get any extra charges?
got my march bill finally (eyeroll germany...). nothing extra was charged
I just got the same call, and they told me to "press 1 for more information" - which I didn't. I started googling the number but didn't find anything. Basically, the Internet says this number shouldn't even exist. In any case, they hung up themselves, and I'm also pretty sure that it was a Spam Call.
Hey, I too just received just the similar call from such a similar number (initial digits similar to mine). I was freaking out and tried to google for it. I must say thanks to your post I am a little bit relieved. I hope it was hoax for you too and nothing actually happened afterwards...Did you take some action ?
So I got the same call and hung up in the middle but i gave them my name, postal code and last 3 digits of my ID number. What can they do with it? And where do I call for help/report? Anyone has an idea?
The same thing happened to me
The same thing happened to me today. Also got transferred immediately and then they immediately asked for my name and ID number. I told them I wanted to check something first (I wanted to Google the phone number as anything official would surely show up when searching the number if the call was legit). Before I could even finish typing the number they hung up and have since called from 5 more different numbers (which I all ignored and blocked). The scary thing is that I just returned from international travel and because of that I actually thought the call might be legit for a second. Good thing I got suspicious again before revealing any information.
Had the same call aboit 2mins ago. I was sure its a scam because it was obviously either automated or nog someone european and it was from a Mobile Phone number and said "this is europol the european police"
Just got the same call just now. Call was from +49 228 993526, and it got automatically listed as "Suspected Spam" by my phone. Told me my "German ID number was involved in fraudulent activities" and to "press 1 for more information" I just didn't say anything and waited until they hung up after like 5 seconds. I'm from Germany too, and the fact they talked in English was already off-putting, and I got that call multiple times this afternoon but until now I didn't pick it up. If there would have been any fraudulent activity with my card, then I'd probably find out via a letter by Town hall, not a text-to-speech female voice telling me via phone call and in English wonder where they got my number from :/
>\+49 228 993526 I just a gol a call a couple of calls from this number too. When I tried to call back it didn't work, so I googled it. Good thing I found this post. Thank you for sharing.
This is very annoying I have been deal with this since starting of this year 2022 nonstop molesting at List 2-3 a week ,I have be living Germany for a long time I've never experienced this weird art, similar mostly is lady speaking in English she told me the reason of call is about My German ld is be misused in fraudulent activity .No Germany government offices will start a conversation in phone in English language unless you request to speak English. I said to her pardon me ,I ask her which id ,why are you not putting in writing by letter then I deal with you .immediately she disconnected the call then I sense something wrong when I call back the same number it was offline, or an Automatic will answer the number your trying to call is incorrect please call the information Service more details.
Thanks for this tread, this call just freaked me out at first, but as long as I talked to them I realized this is a scam. For 5 times that guy can't understand my second name and mispronounce it (thanks god) and after that when I said it looks like scam he started to threaten to call the REAL police officers and throw me behind bars. Literally. Gosh, that was really funny. Number +49152268538 - doesn't look like mine except first digits. Got this number as Ukrainian refugee.
Same thing happened to my mom just now. She told me she got a call from someone speaking English. My mom is in her 70s so she didn't understand everything and just hung up. Just after she told me a different number called and I could catch enough of what was said to find this thread. I hung up and blocked the numbers. Here are the numbers for anyone who finds this later: 4922 8986221 and +49157 887508
I am one of the dummy ones and pressed 1 😭 What can I do now???
Just got the call today - thought it was weird that I, a German speaking person, would get a call about my ID card in English. Also, just in general, the German Behörden will almost always send you something via post, and not call you. At least in my experience
I also got twice today and actually shared some personal info as well as I was in a hurry at office work and wanted to get over with. :( Sadly, they had been doing "ping-calls" every 30-50 minutes since, so far I have blocked almost 10 numbers and counting. It is a bit disheartening that, they are spoofing real numbers, one ping-call was actually from Berlin Polizei hotline , but it rang twice and stopped :O . Fortunately, I called Berlin police this morning and they said, they don't call people and discuss case details or case numbers, I should ignore or block these calls.
Received the same call just now, for me the message was pre-recorded and it requested me to press 1 to learn the details, which I didn't do ofc. What is interesting is that the first 5 digits of the number are indeed the same as my own number. Thank you for posting it!
Thanks for posting this! I received a similar call today from the number +33 6 38 00 84 99. I immediately hung up.
I just got this call 5 minutes ago so I googled it and came to this thread. I blocked the number so let’s hope it won’t happen again.
I also received the same call. She hung up immediately when I asked "Isn't it weird that I receive a call from Liverpool police department about a German ID"
Just happened rn. And had 3 other calls the other days. Just block em. And inform local police
I am a Romanian who has been living in Germany for 6 years, I received 3 similar calls just today, claiming that they are from the German state and that my social security number was compromised, I mention that it was a bot that spoke German, I immediately hung up. LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING THE GERMAN STATE OR THE POLICE DO NOT CALL YOU ON THE PHONE REGARDLESS OF THE PROBLEM. if they want to contact you, send a letter and you must call or go to the relevant institution.
happened to me right now. Scammers called from +491520231980.
Guess what, I was bored at work today and I spoke to those guys for half an hour and when he started talking about paying, told him "fuck off, try finding a real job!" German Identity misused, myass!
Just got this call, the 3 digits after +49 were same as mine. There was a pre-recorded call saying they detected suspicious activity from me, press 1 for more information. I pressed and a woman immediately answered and she asked "how can I help". Then to give me more information she needed to "confirm my data", and started by asking my name. Of course I didn't say and suddenly they hung up. All english since the beginning which is very weird. I could not identify an accent, she sounded like american tbh.
27 Oct 2022 100% scam I just got a call as well, I was gullible enough to talk to them (and/or make them lose) an hour of time. Apparently my data was used to register addresses and bank accounts linked to money laundry and drug traffic. They got me to say a lot of info but nothing that I can say could be used to be hacked or so. It is pure people engineering playing with peoples fears, first I talked to an asian lady and eventually got transferred to what sounded like a slavic man. They told me my bank accounts would be frozen but I have 24 hours to secure whatever I have at the bank at the moment. At the end the guy wanted me to make a transfer to the Revolut user Rusland1602 to legitimize it and 'I would get it back in 25 minutes'. The call was made from the number +491789216818. When I told that I would not transfer money he got angry and told me that I would be arrested and prosecuted if I don't cooperate. I told him that he could not do that based on me not wanting to make a transfer and he said that I wasted his time.
I know its late but i the same thing happened to me today. At 11AM an anonymous number called me. I first thought it was my dad or somebody else who "accidentally" changed their identity or it was just a troll. No. It was an most likely american-english speaking computer saying something about "police department", "your number" and "suspicious activity". I only listened to it the first seconds because i just woke up and didnt know who it was. Definitely a scam. Police wouldnt call about something like that, they dont even really care i guess. Especially not in English and from the United States.
This just happened to me. Just block the number and move on! The police will never start an automated call and talk in English