Overview

• The Verbraucherzentrale Brandenburg reports scammers posing as bank, law firm or platform staff and demanding identification via WhatsApp, phone or email.
• A frequent ruse uses forged letters from supposed Swiss law firms claiming court-awarded payouts and instructing targets to submit ID images for release of funds.
• Authorities warn that ID photos can enable identity theft used to open accounts, take out loans or sign contracts in a victim’s name.
• Germany’s BSI advises sharing sensitive documents only through encrypted, certified services, noting a WhatsApp flaw disclosed in early September that could deliver spyware.
• Police and consumer advocates say never transmit ID copies over messengers and to file a criminal complaint if solicited, with added caution for job offers, crypto pitches or fake Trade Republic emails that may even include small test payments.