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Go to the police? Let us know how that works out for you. I did that once, after a highly credible phishing attempt (that, ultimately, I did not fall for). T

Go to the police? Let us know how that works out for you. I did that once, after a highly credible phishing attempt (that, ultimately, I did not fall for). This was in Germany. Me: Here is what happened to me, I'd like to file a police report. Police: Well, with these internet scams, the fraudster is usually in another country, meaning we can't really do anything about it. Me: They used perfect German, used information that I only ever provided into a non-public database of a German-based business that must have had a breach of some sort. The fraudster also used pictures of apartments in Germany that must have been taken here. Police: Well, still. The person actually doing all of that could have been doing all of that from another country. Usually Russia or China or something. Me [thinking to myself]: Yeah, Russia, or China, or some country where law enforcement generally presumes, even against all evidence, that any and all cybercrime is happening outside their jurisdiction and therefore not doing any law enforcement at all when it comes to cybercrime. Like what is happening right here right now. Me: Well, I realize that nobody is going to start an investigation into this specific thing that happened here, but still: Isn't anyone at least compiling a database so that, once patterns become bigger and more apparent, an investigation of sorts may become warranted, etc? Police: Nope. Nobody doing that. You can file a report. But I can tell you right now that nobody is going to look at it or do anything with it. Also, we kind of have more important things to do, here at the station. I mean: It's your choice. I can't stop you. Just telling you how it is. Me: Okay, thank you, goodbye.

ccozan 7y ago
Thinking of this I would have continued like: Me: are you confirming that if I start a scam you will not investigate it? Police:...? Me: Ok , then thanks a lot, I know now. Police: umm, wait maybe..
- missinglink12 7y ago
  Exactly
- 0xffff2 7y ago
  Of course the local police department isn't likely to investigate it. That doesn't mean no one is.
  - stakhanov 7y ago
    But, formally speaking, it actually really is within their responsibility to serve as the first point of contact for the individual citizen (think "retail customer") and put it through to the proper channels within law enforcement. The Bavarian police (this was in Bavaria) even has a "center for cybercrime" which, according to press releases and stuff, sounds like precisely the office that should take note of things like that. But they don't have any public-facing communication channels of any kind[1], and I'm unclear whether they actually do stuff or whether they exist purely on paper as a public relations and politics stunt. Maybe if I was politically connected or willing to spend a pile of dough to put a lawyer on it, things would be different, but this was just one man trying to do his civic duty and there's only so much trouble that I'm willing to go to for that. [1] EDIT: After doing some more research, it looks like, meanwhile they do. This was just announced two months ago, so seems to be a new development. https://www.polizei.bayern.de/kriminalitaet/internet/index.html/294475 https://www.polizei.bayern.de/kriminalitaet/internet/index.h...
juped 7y ago
This is an uninsightful comment. You go to the police to get the report.
mschuster91 7y ago
File a written criminal complaint directly with the Staatsanwaltschaft, bypass the incompetent morons at the police.
Faark 7y ago
The good old self-reinforcing loop... It's not a prevalent issue -> We won't do anything -> You filing a report will be just a waste of time -> Statistics show it's not a prevalent issue
yellow_lead 7y ago
Unfortunately with spoofed numbers it is, from what I've heard, incredibly difficult to track. The carrier that terminated the call to your carrier is likely not the originating carrier (the one that initiated the call) so it could involve subpoenas to many carriers to find the originator, which you then have to subpoena for the customer information.
dependenttypes 7y ago
The police is more busy trying to catch victimless crimes instead of going after scams which have real victims. If you search for "fake dna test online" for example you will find a lot of relevant results even in the first page of google.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
Kneecaps07 7y ago
Yeah, that's kind of what I've expected. However, having the police report often helps when dealing with the bank if there is any real fraudulent activity. It shows them you're serious.
rawfan 7y ago
I had the exact opposite experience. The DAs office eventually called me to tell me that they didn't catch the perps but were able to kill the phone-number blocks which they had been using for years because no one ever reported them. Sometimes cops are just lazy (or assholes). When thieves tried to steal the rain gutter from the appartment building on the other side of the road, the cops told me "don't expect us to rush in with sirens and screeching tyres", even after I told them the thieves were still there, in broad daylight. Later my landlords told me they lost 50k Euros in the previous year because of stolen rain gutters.

ccozan 7y ago

Thinking of this I would have continued like: Me: are you confirming that if I start a scam you will not investigate it? Police:...? Me: Ok , then thanks a lot, I know now. Police: umm, wait maybe..

missinglink12 7y ago
Exactly
0xffff2 7y ago
Of course the local police department isn't likely to investigate it. That doesn't mean no one is.
- stakhanov 7y ago
  But, formally speaking, it actually really is within their responsibility to serve as the first point of contact for the individual citizen (think "retail customer") and put it through to the proper channels within law enforcement. The Bavarian police (this was in Bavaria) even has a "center for cybercrime" which, according to press releases and stuff, sounds like precisely the office that should take note of things like that. But they don't have any public-facing communication channels of any kind[1], and I'm unclear whether they actually do stuff or whether they exist purely on paper as a public relations and politics stunt. Maybe if I was politically connected or willing to spend a pile of dough to put a lawyer on it, things would be different, but this was just one man trying to do his civic duty and there's only so much trouble that I'm willing to go to for that. [1] EDIT: After doing some more research, it looks like, meanwhile they do. This was just announced two months ago, so seems to be a new development. https://www.polizei.bayern.de/kriminalitaet/internet/index.html/294475 https://www.polizei.bayern.de/kriminalitaet/internet/index.h...

juped 7y ago

This is an uninsightful comment. You go to the police to get the report.

mschuster91 7y ago

File a written criminal complaint directly with the Staatsanwaltschaft, bypass the incompetent morons at the police.

Faark 7y ago

The good old self-reinforcing loop... It's not a prevalent issue -> We won't do anything -> You filing a report will be just a waste of time -> Statistics show it's not a prevalent issue

yellow_lead 7y ago

Unfortunately with spoofed numbers it is, from what I've heard, incredibly difficult to track. The carrier that terminated the call to your carrier is likely not the originating carrier (the one that initiated the call) so it could involve subpoenas to many carriers to find the originator, which you then have to subpoena for the customer information.

dependenttypes 7y ago

The police is more busy trying to catch victimless crimes instead of going after scams which have real victims. If you search for "fake dna test online" for example you will find a lot of relevant results even in the first page of google.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

Kneecaps07 7y ago

Yeah, that's kind of what I've expected. However, having the police report often helps when dealing with the bank if there is any real fraudulent activity. It shows them you're serious.

rawfan 7y ago

I had the exact opposite experience. The DAs office eventually called me to tell me that they didn't catch the perps but were able to kill the phone-number blocks which they had been using for years because no one ever reported them. Sometimes cops are just lazy (or assholes). When thieves tried to steal the rain gutter from the appartment building on the other side of the road, the cops told me "don't expect us to rush in with sirens and screeching tyres", even after I told them the thieves were still there, in broad daylight. Later my landlords told me they lost 50k Euros in the previous year because of stolen rain gutters.