Tuesday, September 16, 2014

The Fake Cops

Almost weekly now....in Germany....there's a fake cop episode.  Here in Wiesbaden....we've had a couple of the episodes on various popular streets...mostly involving tourists.  You start to take note of the fake cop stories now.

This week....it's highlighted about a curious fake cop episode that occurred in north Germany.....around two weeks ago.

Four guys appear at the doorway of a upscale house in a nice neighborhood.  They produce badges and pronounce themselves as tax-inspectors.  Yep, there is some type of suspicion by the tax authorities that the house owner has dodged taxes.

You can sit there and imagine the frustration, hyperactivity, and nervousness by the home-owner over this type of accusation.  "Oh man".....they finally discovered me.....they got my name from that Luxembourg investment guy.....or my neighbor ratted me out finally over jealousy of the new Audi TT.

A search warrant is provided at the door....seemingly authentic and real.  And so starts the perception of the tax inspectors doing their duty.

They even recite the rights speech to the home-owner....letting him know of civil rights and consequences if he doesn't cooperate.

Somewhere in the middle of this search....their professional behavior starts to dwindle, and they start to act less like cops or inspectors.  And the home-owner starts to suspect something isn't right.

After they left.....the guy's daughter finally convinces him to call the cops to ask questions, and the whole episode unfolds then.

What they took?  Roughly twenty-thousand Euro in a coin collection.

The German cops?  They kinda admit it was one of the most polished and deceiving episodes that they've come across in years.  They've posted pictures of the four, and kinda expect the four to pop up somewhere in the coming weeks.

Last year, I noted that a German guy and his wife....after having made a trip into Luxembourg for some type of banking business and retrieval of funds (he never wanted to admit how much he brought back into Germany) was pulled over once he crossed into Germany by the customs patrol.  Oh, they said they were the customs patrol and used the blue light deal to flag them down and search their vehicle. But as they left....the guy and his wife noted that their envelope with cash.....was gone.  Strangely enough....the guy gets irritated and calls the cops to report this, which basically is an admittance of some illegal banking outside of the country.

The start of a trend?  I'm not sure.  But you never saw episodes like this twenty years ago.  The bad guys....in effect....are getting smarter.

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