Fake police officer arrested in Vienna-Meidling – Investigators accuse him of €70,000 fraud

The arrest took place on Thursday morning at the man's residential address in the Vienna-Meidling district. The Operational Group for the Combating of Street Crime, a special unit of the State Criminal Police Office of Vienna, carried out the arrest. Subsequently, the suspect was transferred to criminal police premises and interrogated.

Arrest and evidence gathering

During the search of the apartment, the criminal investigators secured evidence, including allegedly forged documents and electronic devices, whose contents are now being evaluated. Connections to Vienna-Donaustadt are also being examined, as individual leads point to this part of the city, according to investigators. Whether further accomplices were involved remains unclear to date.

According to the current state of the investigation, the damage amounts to around €70,000. However, investigators do not rule out that the actual total damage could rise in the course of further inquiries. The Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office is also reviewing whether the requirements for pre-trial detention are met.

On Thursday, the police called a live-streamed TV press conference at which the arrest and the investigative results obtained so far were presented to the public. Spokeswoman Anna Gutt explained the perpetrators' modus operandi to the media and gave behavioral advice for elderly people, who, according to the criminal investigators' findings, are the preferred target group of fake police officers.

Well-known scam – increased vigilance

For years, police and consumer protection organizations in Austria have been warning about the "fake police officer" scam. Perpetrators usually ring the doorbell of elderly individuals, claim that a close relative has been involved in an accident, and demand large sums of cash to avert a prison sentence or to secure valuables.

In the current case in Vienna-Meidling, initial evaluations indicate that the suspect may have obtained large sums of cash in several cases. The investigators of the State Criminal Police Office of Vienna ask possible further victims to report to any police station.

After the police interrogation was completed, the suspect was reported on the ground of release; a judicial presentation to review pre-trial detention was requested, according to the Public Prosecutor's Office. No information was initially released regarding the exact amount of the initial bail or any conditions imposed.

Expansion of investigations

The security authorities announced that they would extend the investigations to comparable cases in the greater Vienna area. The results of the house search in Vienna-Meidling, as well as the evaluation of the seized devices, are intended to clarify how long the suspect had already been active and whether a network was involved.

The City of Vienna and the State Criminal Police Office of Vienna jointly set up a hotline for citizens who suspect they have become victims of fraud by fake police officers. House banks were also asked to pay particular attention to unusual cash withdrawals and transfers.