Short Answer
German police forces and municipal tax offices are legally barred from requesting bank asset transfers or credit card security data over a standard telephone call. Civil authorities conduct official criminal or financial verifications exclusively through physical documentation or face-to-face interviews inside a secure precinct.
What Most Expats Don't Realize
You answered a call from an individual claiming to be a senior police detective who warned you that your local checking account was compromised by identity thieves. The caller instructed you to safeguard your funds immediately by shifting your total balance into an official state-secured escrow routing number. You followed the telephone instructions and emptied your primary checking profile into the provided international holding account. You lost €6,400 from your liquid savings because you let an authoritative tone blind you to standard banking security protocols.
What To Do
- Call the emergency banking service number at 116 116 immediately to freeze your compromised accounts and credit profiles.
- Open the digital "Onlinewache" portal for your state to log the suspect phone number and report the interaction to the real authorities.
- "Ich werde diese Angaben direkt auf meiner lokalen Polizeistation überprüfen." (I will verify these details directly at my local police station.) — say this to the voice on the line and immediately terminate the connection if they refuse to provide a physical precinct address.
The Truth
This is a classic Authority Scam. Scammers rely on the fact that foreigners are often intimidated by German officials and want to be cooperative to avoid trouble.