Overview
- Fraudsters posing as police called an 80-year-old woman in Hamburg and convinced her to leave family jewellery and about €100,000 in cash outside her home for collection.
- After she realized she had been cheated the victim panicked and phoned her daughter, who says she heard her mother cry “Tine, Tine, mein Herz, mein Herz” before the woman collapsed and later died of a reported rupture of the heart sac.
- Emergency responders were summoned but were unable to save the woman, according to media reports.
- Police have not identified or arrested suspects and outlets report the formal investigation has been closed, prompting the daughter to go public and demand accountability.
- Telephone impersonation scams that ask victims to hand over cash or valuables target older people and are hard to trace once items are handed to couriers, which experts say complicates prosecutions and heightens the need for public warnings.