Nasty methods

How the “sewer mafia” shamelessly tricks its victims

Anyone who calls a sewer service company in an emergency must be careful not to fall victim to fraudsters.(Bild: Erwin Wodicka)

Fake companies are constantly coming up with new tricks to take advantage of their victims' plight. Even genuine company profiles are faked. Reputable companies are fighting back.

If water suddenly leaks into your home due to a blocked sewer or blocked drain, you need to act quickly. In their haste, many people dial the first number that pops up on the Internet.

But beware: as with locksmiths, these are sometimes extremely dubious companies that are just trying to take advantage of an emergency situation and rip you off.

It's not just annoying for customers when they pay a lot of money to fraudsters. It's also a problem for us when they think they've contacted us.

Andreas Herrman, Unternehmer aus Matzen

But even if you dial the number of a trusted company, you are not immune to unknowingly falling victim to fraudsters. Why? The methods of the "channel mafia" are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Their latest trick: they change the number of the registered companies stored in Google profiles without authorization (usually starting with 0800) and pretend to be them when making calls. After all, they drive to the customer in unlabeled vehicles, but do highly unprofessional work there.

In return, they charge horrendous sums of money. If anyone questions the bill, the fake tradesmen try to intimidate them in an aggressive manner. "The victims then usually pay what is demanded in order to get these people out of the house," says Andreas Herrman, who is also affected by these scams with his business in Matzen in the district of Gänserndorf. Like many of his colleagues, he has already intervened with the police and the Chamber of Commerce, but so far without success.