Demanded "bail"

Daughter of victim outwitted telephone fraudster

An 81-year-old woman in the Tyrolean district of Kufstein almost fell victim to a telephone scam. A caller demanded a deposit of 50,000 euros from her because her son had allegedly caused a traffic accident. However, a clever question from her daughter caught the fraudster out. 

On Tuesday afternoon, the senior citizen's phone rang in Kirchbichl. The caller pretended to be an employee of the Freistadt public prosecutor's office and wanted to make the 81-year-old believe that her son had caused a traffic accident in which a woman had died. So that he would not have to go to prison, his mother should pay a bail of 50,000 euros.

Daughter reacted with presence of mind
During the conversation, the Austrian woman called her daughter. She asked the caller to tell her her brother's nickname. The suspected fraudster was able to give the man's name and date of birth, but not his nickname. When the daughter asked her again, the unknown woman finally hung up.