A recent case shows how brazen fraudsters can be: criminals had posed as supposed employees of ECC-Net (European Consumer Centres Network) – the network of European consumer centres – in order to gain the trust of a victim who had already been defrauded in the past. Their goal: to obtain consumer data and money.
The European Consumer Centre Germany (ECC Germany) describes the procedure as follows: the criminals pretend to be representatives of the ECC-Net, in this case as the alleged “Chief Inspector Alves Pereira”. With a sophisticated story, they claim to have secured funds in collaboration with international authorities such as Interpol, the BaFin and the European Central Bank, which allegedly stem from previous frauds.
Those affected are asked to register on a platform called “Maritime Investments”
In order to access these supposedly recovered funds, the victim is asked to register on a platform called “Maritime Investments” and go through a verification process. The aim? To obtain further personal data and financial information from their victims. Subsequently, consumers are often asked to pay further sums.
ECC-Net warns: Criminals misuse the network’s name for fraud
Particularly insidious: “The perpetrators specifically target people who have already been victims of investment fraud. In this case, everything indicates that the same criminals who committed the first fraud are striking again – this time under a different name, namely ours,” warns Maren Dopp from ECC Kehl.
The consumer protection officer points out that ECC-Net never contacts people without them having previously asked for support themselves. No “director”, “chief inspector” or other title holder will contact you without being asked. Furthermore, cases are only opened via the homepage www.evz.de. Money is never demanded. If it is, it is a case of fraud.
In case of doubt, consumer advisor Dopp advises those affected to contact the ECCs, using only the contact details provided on evz.de (not those given in the letter). Her advice: “File a report with your local police!”, which is also possible online at the online police stations of the federal states.
