Alarm in East Tyrol: The wave of fraud is aimed at older people!

Alarm in East Tyrol: The wave of fraud is aimed at older people!

Lienz, Österreich - The State Police Directorate raises the alarm over a worrying increase in fraud cases in the Lienz district, which have strengthened in the past few weeks. Older people in particular are affected, which increases the concern of the police and the community. The fraudsters often pretend to be police officers, criminal officers or prosecutors and try to win the trust of their victims.

You use a perfidious method: you pretend to have an alleged accident from a relative to obtain cash and valuables. This form of deception is not new, but the current statistics show that similar waves of fraud were also found in the neighboring state of Carinthia. The police urgently warned the East Tyrolean population and appealed to report suspicious calls.

alarming fraud statistics

The problem of fraud against older people is far more. According to vpnranks.com, the statistics show that the fraud in seniors increase from year to year. From January to May 2024, the financial losses were $ 1.6 billion, which corresponds to an increase of almost $ 300 million compared to the previous year. In 2023, more than 101,000 victims aged 60 and older reported fraud.

The most common fraud was the tech support fraud with almost 18,000 people affected. Investment fraud, on the other hand, caused the highest financial damage - over $ 1.2 billion. Forecasts for 2025 estimate that the number of fraud victims could increase to around 121,229 and the losses even achieve $ 4.47 billion. The average loss per victim is $ 33,915.

prevention and awareness

experts emphasize the urgency of sensitization and prevention measures to protect older people from such fraud stitches. Jill Schlesinger and other experts advise to urgently check suspicious calls and regularly monitor the accounts. The dramatic development of fraud statistics requires proactive action, both on the part of the authorities and those affected.

The police in Lienz make it clear that this new wave of fraud must be taken seriously and asks the population to vigilance. Information and warnings should be actively distributed to prevent further victims and stop the criminal machinations.