Overview
- The ZDF program will reenact a Frankfurt case in which scammers kept a victim on the phone for more than three hours using a scripted role-play.
- Callers posed as a son, a criminal investigator, an emergency operator and a prosecutor, deploying legal jargon to intimidate the target.
- Police are appealing for tips from former neighbors, colleagues or fleeting acquaintances, including any known nicknames of the suspects.
- Host Rudi Cerne will present the episode on Wednesday, Nov. 5, as authorities seek viewer information to advance the probe.
- Hessian investigators report roughly €6 million stolen via shock calls in 2024 and describe internationally organized groups with links to Poland, with many perpetrators fluent in German.