Fraudsters are often cunning and unscrupulous, sometimes even highly creative in their “schemes,” constantly inventing new ways to deceive unsuspecting people. Yet, all too often, it is the same “tried-and-true” methods that prove most successful in extracting money. This is something the detectives of Kurtz Private Detective Agency Hanover encounter repeatedly—most recently, when a victim contacted our private investigators in addition to having already filed a police report.

 

The elderly gentleman, Mr. H. Schäfer, had not personally fallen for the fraud, but his wife had. She was now tormented by guilt and unable to sleep. Mr. Schäfer did everything he could to reassure her, but his wife Else could not forgive herself for “ruining” them, as she put it. The police had already been informed, but no results had emerged, so he decided to enlist the help of a Hanover-based private detective as well. Ironically, it was the well-known so-called “grandparent scam” that had ensnared Mrs. Schäfer.

Mr. Schäfer had to undergo a minor operation and spent two weeks in hospital. Whether the fraudsters deliberately chose this timing or whether it was coincidental cannot be determined in hindsight. What is clear is that the events followed the classic pattern familiar to our Hanover detectives:

 

A young man called Mrs. Else Schäfer, who was home alone and unsuspecting. He claimed to be her grandson Carsten, who was studying in Tübingen and “wanted to get in touch again.” The clients of Kurtz Detective Agency Hanover do indeed have such a grandson, so the fraudsters must have done their research. According to the supposed grandson, he was in financial distress and needed help from his grandmother, as he had no other recourse. Typically, people in such situations become suspicious if their beloved grandchild suddenly speaks in a different dialect or with a foreign-sounding accent. In this case, however, the caller spoke fluent standard German, as is common in Hanover. A voice on the phone is often difficult to recognise, Mrs. Schäfer later recalled, but she had no doubt it was her grandson, as the caller also answered questions about the family without arousing suspicion. He told the unfortunate client of Kurtz Detective Agency Hanover a heart-wrenching story: he had been unable to pay his rent for a long time, his parents had helped him where possible, and yet he was now on the verge of eviction by the landlord. He asked if his dear grandmother could help with several thousand euros, promising to repay the money as soon as possible. He claimed he could not come in person because Tübingen was too far, but that a friend in Hanover could collect the money and bring it to him shortly thereafter.

 

Mrs. Schäfer had no reason to be suspicious; it was obviously her grandson on the other end of the line. She agreed, and indeed, the next day, a young woman of about 20 came to the clients’ apartment, apologised profusely, and thanked Mrs. Schäfer repeatedly, receiving an envelope containing €3,000—the total cash she could quickly gather. Believing this insufficient, she also gave the girl an old gold pocket watch, which she had purchased cheaply decades ago. She had no sentimental attachment to it but knew it had become quite valuable and had intended to give it to her grandson anyway. The girl accepted the gift on behalf of the grandson, unaware that this very watch would ultimately betray the fraudsters.

“I can’t blame my Else; she has a big heart,” Mr. Schäfer told our Hanover detectives, “but damn it, they couldn’t have done that to ME!” Two days later, after leaving the hospital, he heard his wife’s story and immediately became suspicious. A call to the grandson in Tübingen quickly confirmed that he was fine, financially stable, and had certainly not called his grandmother asking for money two days earlier. Minutes later, Mr. Schäfer contacted the police, but they made clear that the likelihood of recovering the money was realistically low.

 

“Now, however, Else gave the girl the watch—perhaps that’s a clue,” explained Mr. Schäfer, deciding to enlist the help of Kurtz Detective Agency Hanover to possibly apprehend the fraudsters. Typically, in grandparent scams, the fraudsters take the money and vanish without a trace, often never appearing in the same region again. In this case, however, the watch could be unequivocally identified thanks to an engraving—giving our Hanover detectives a clear starting point.

 

Since there was no immediate suspect for our investigators to observe, the Hanover private detectives carefully assessed the situation from the fraudster’s perspective: the watch directly linked back to the Schäfers’ scam and would likely be quickly converted into cash. This did not necessarily require a fence, as often shown in crime films. In reality, the fraudster would often sell it online, through platforms like eBay, or take it to a pawnbroker or jeweller—especially if confident they had not yet been caught. Comprehensive online research and contacts in the jewellery trade were therefore the primary approach for our Hanover investigators to recover the item.

 

While online research initially proved fruitless, the cooperation of a pawnbroker in Hanover’s old town ultimately led to a breakthrough. After careful questioning, the broker confirmed that a young man had sold him the watch a week earlier for €1,500. It had not yet been sold and remained in the shop.

A promising first lead for our Hanover private investigators. While the pawnbroker did not know the customer personally, he had good contacts and offered to inquire further to uncover the person’s identity, as it was in his own interest to recover the €1,500. “Of course I want to help wherever I can,” said the broker. “We’re a reputable business, not fences for stolen goods!” It is often impossible to prove ownership for every item; instinct plays a key role—and the young man had seemed very professional and friendly. With the watch recovered, it could be returned to its rightful owners, the Schäfers, after police verification. Shortly thereafter, the young man who sold the watch was identified by the broker and taken into police custody. This led authorities directly to his accomplice—the blonde young woman who had innocently appeared at Mrs. Schäfer’s door four weeks earlier.

 

Our Hanover detective clients had no difficulty identifying the young woman, allowing the fraudster pair to be apprehended. “Without the watch,” noted the responsible private investigator from Kurtz Detective Agency Hanover, “we and the police would have had little chance of uncovering the pair. Their greed ultimately led to their capture.” Fortunately, not only did the Schäfers and the pawnbroker recover their losses, but three other victims who had unwittingly handed money to the young woman also recovered their funds. We at Kurtz Detective Agency Hanover are naturally delighted to have played a decisive role in this outcome.

Author: Gerrit Koehler

 

To preserve discretion and protect the privacy of clients and subjects, all names and locations in this case report have been altered beyond recognition.

 

Kurtz Detective Agency Hannover

Kampsriede 6A

D-30659 Hanover

Tel.: +49 511 2028 0016

E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-hannover.de

Web: https://www.kurtz-detektei-hannover.de/en

Google: https://g.page/kurtz-detektei-hannover

Ιmage Attribution

1. The Beauty of Old Age, Urheber Vinoth Chandar: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
2. img_0001, Urheber Jannis: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
3. Im Trödel am Arena Gelände, Berlin, Treptow; Urheber Andreas Lehner: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/