IN meeting, Feb. 5
A lady of the special dept of the police dealing with crime prevention for seniors, gave such an interesting talk filled with important information. It was agreed that she give it in German,  since she admitted that her English was not sufficient enough to get all the relevant info. clearly across. And she gave us so much information. Here are some of the main categories that we as seniors should be especially aware of.
 1) Shock Anrufe, usually in the middle of the night. Someone pretends to be a relative and in dire need of help, money of course. These calls are very prevalent at the moment, and anyone of us can be targeted. The callers are so clever that we can be made to believe that it is genuine. Hang up and call the police directly.
 2) falsche Handwerker. Be sure to carefully inspect the ID card. Beware if there are 2 persons. Someone from the Wasserwek, for example, would come alone to check the meter. And don’t let anyone into the house, until you are absolutely sure. Official persons don`t come unannounced.
 3) pickpockets  Of course, most prevalent in the city and in crowds. First rule: don’t use a backpack as your purse. Keep your purse close to your body. And don’t put all your valuables in one place. These seem like obvious guidelines but if you carefully check your behaviour, we don’t always follow the basics, especially if you’re not often in the city or in crowds.
Keep strangers at a distance, even if they are asking for the directions and showing you a map. Again, be aware if there is more than one person.
  4) QR codes A newer trick is with false QR codes. Often you’re asked to pay using a QR code, especially with parking. These can be manipulated so that your bank info is given to the wrong persons.
These points may seem like general common sense, but how often do we forget when in a given situation.
The Police lady was able to hold our interest by decribing many real cases. Some of us reported about personal incidents: stolen wallets and scam phone calls. It was a very enlightening meeting with lots of information. In the end, remember that your local police station is the first place to turn with questions or suspicion of scams.

18 ladies attended and we went away with a more secure feeling. Just be aware and suspicious.