Scammers’ New Tactic During the Crown Pandemic

“Elsa”, who is actually called something else, is 85 years old and lives alone in an apartment in Gothenburg. One night he receives a text message from a friend telling him that Elsa has bought an item for 200 SEK and will now pay.

– Then I understood that my friend had been kidnapped and that they had cheated me in some way.

In the days after the text message, Elsa received three calls from England. She did not answer. Then came a call from a foreign bank where a Swedish-speaking woman told Elsa that someone was applying for a loan in her name.

– “No, that’s not true” I said and hung up, says Elsa.

She was sitting on her couch the living room and shook his whole body. Little by little he realized that something very bad was about to happen when the phone rang again.

– Then it was a woman from Nordea, that is, from my bank. She introduced herself as “Anita” and told me that my account had been hijacked. He talks and is very nice.

– Then I say ‘Can you block my card also in Handelsbanken?’ I should never have done that, says Elsa.

At the same time that Elsa became concerned about Nordea’s call, she also calmed down. Finally, I would seek help.

According to Elsa, the woman was very trustworthy. She calmly said that she could also lock the card in Handelsbanken without any problem. He asked Elsa to wait a bit while he fixed things.

– She told me to go put some coffee in the meantime.

All the time had Elsa phone in hand. She was sitting on the couch shaking when the woman returned to the phone.

– Then she tells me: “Now do this; take an envelope and leave your boxes, account number and card.”

The woman told Elsa that the bank had an offer for customers over 70 during the crown times. Instead of having to go to the bank, someone from the bank can go home with Elsa. Totally free.

– Then he said that there was actually a person who could be with me in 30 minutes.

After a while he ping at the door, and Elsa opened it. She was surprised. Outside the door was a girl who Elsa thinks was 17 years old.

– She was thin and skinny and looked a bit uncomfortable. He wore a knitted hat on his head and a mouth guard.

Elsa hesitated but handed the envelope to the girl, then closed the door and sat on the couch again. She continued shaking. The woman on the other end of the phone was on the phone the entire time.

– She talked to me for probably 30 minutes after I put the envelope down. He said he would “investigate some things.”

Elsa thinks that It was during these 30 minutes that SEK 30,000 was stolen from both of his accounts, money that he kept for several years for unforeseen expenses.

So I sat down and talked to the villain while she took my money

– So I sat down and talked to the villain while she took my money.

When the conversation ended, Elsa called her son and told him what had happened, who said: “Call and block the card. Call the police. “

Said and done. The next day, two policemen came to Elsa’s house to take her information.

How did you sleep the night after you were robbed?

– Like a dog. I was completely exhausted. They had completely run out of me.

Elsa is not sure if the kidnapped friend’s text message, calls from London and the foreign bank were related to the fraud she suffered.

– Now I just want to warn others and tell them: just hang up.

DN has previously wrote about many cases of fraud attempts against the elderly in western Sweden during the crown pandemic.

The focus is on single people who were born in the 1920s and 1930s, according to police. The modus operandi is similar to what Elsa went through; a person calls and claims to be from a bank and has the elderly physically hand over their account number and card to a person who comes to the door, with the explanation that the pandemic means that the elderly do not have to go to the bank.

At times, scammers have also stolen property while visiting the single person.

Working for the police The Circa group with serial crimes targeting the elderly and disabled. The group has been in existence since 2009 and maps and investigates cases across Sweden where the elderly are victims, to try to see a connection between the suspected crimes.

It remains to be seen if those who cheated on Elsa are part of a fraud, but at the Circa group, the group’s manager, Anders Larsson, has no doubts about it.

– What you describe is a typical case of serial crime of what we call social manipulation.

Social manipulation means that a scammer, for example, pretends to be from the bank or phone company and forces the victim to reveal the bank details that make the fraud possible.

And Elsa is not alone in her experience. Between 2019 and 2020, cases have increased by more than 30 percent, according to Anders Larsson.

If the calls from London and the bank, and if the text message from the friend’s hijacked phone, is part of the same fraudulent, Anders Larsson can’t answer.

– But we see in our surveys that a person is often affected several times by this type of fraud. This is a consequence of the fact that it is easy to find older people on the Internet.

What’s the chance that Elsa will get an answer about who exposed her to this?

– The possibility exists, but there are such extensive investigations, with many suspects involved. And we only have the resources that we have, says Anders Larsson.

When DN speaks with Elsa, four days have passed since the conversation with “Anita” from Nordea. She is still shocked by what has happened and has a hard time trusting phone calls from unknown numbers.

– The day after the police report, several calls were made from a secret number. It was from the police, I understood later, but then I thought that it was the scammers who were calling me again and wanting revenge.

Elsa is a fictitious name.

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