Police in western Sweden have warned on several occasions this summer that the fraudsters are calling people with Polish-sounding surnames in Sweden, speaking Polish and claiming to be from the police.
One of the stories they tell the victim is that gangs of burglars have been observed operating in the area and that the victim therefore needs to collect all their valuables and hand them over to “the police”.
The fraudsters have in particular been targeting people in western Sweden in July and August this summer – including several attempts in Gothenburg and Borås – but they have also operated in southern Sweden, so police urged everyone in Sweden to beware of scam attempts and report them to the real police.
The caller is often a woman who sounds polite and friendly at first, reports Gothenburg newspaper GP, but turns aggressive and threatening when the intended victim refuses to hand over their valuables.
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Police urged people who get these phone calls to hang up immediately and call the Swedish police themselves on their non-emergency phone number 114 14 to ask if the call came from them.
Many of the victims are elderly people, which is not uncommon. However, police told public broadcaster SVT it is unusual that the victims are chosen based on speaking a certain language – in this case Polish.
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