"Warn others"

TV commissioner became a victim of a scam

TV detective Michael Edlinger was a victim of criminal machinations.(Bild: Philipp Brozsek)

In "Blind ermittelt", TV star Michael Edlinger himself goes on the hunt for criminal schemes and criminals of all kinds. Recently, the TV detective himself became a victim. Fraudsters wanted to scam acquaintances and friends of the actor out of 700 euros via WhatsApp messages in his name.

He is normally in front of the camera as a detective of all things. And fights against criminal machinations and criminals of all kinds on our TV screens in the popular series "Blind ermittelt".

Recently, however, actor Michael Edlinger himself was targeted by criminals. He warned of this in videos on social media and has now gone public with the story via the Federal Criminal Police Office.

In a video posted on social media, the real Edlinger explains how the scam came about.(Bild: Bundeskriminalamt)

The fraudsters snuck in via a voting survey
He himself unsuspectingly took part in a voting survey at a careless moment when he was under stress, whereupon his WhatsApp account was hacked from two servers. All his friends and acquaintances then received requests in his name and supposedly from his number to transfer 700 euros due to an emergency. Of course, only he himself knew that the emergency was purely fictitious. 

Edlinger described his experiences to the Federal Criminal Police Office.(Bild: Bundeskriminalamt)

"It's a very bad feeling. You think to yourself: What's happening? And who actually has access to my cell phone right now?" the actor recounts the first anxious moments after he was informed that he was supposedly begging for money. A friend then helped him and identified two browsers acting in Edlinger's name. However, his WhatsApp account had already been blocked.

I used to think that I was very sensitized to recognizing this kind of thing.

Michael Edlinger glaubte nie, selbst zum Opfer zu werden.

"Always think about why someone wants something from you"
At the end of the day, nothing happened to the actor and he did not suffer any financial damage as a result of the fraud attempts. Nevertheless, he feels as though someone has broken into his home. He advises others to always consider "when someone wants something from me and why". And if a successful scam has already happened, to go to the police without shame.