Over the past thirty months that I've been in the Wiesbaden area....we've probably had at least twenty fake cop robberies within the city.
It's generally rich upper-class tourists that the guy or guys will appear in front of....acting as cops....suggesting that a recent fake Euro bill episode has occurred in the city and they just want to check the billfold or purse of the victim. Minutes later after the fake cops leave....the victim realizes they robbed him or her.
This time? A Kuwaiti guy near one of the upper-class hotels in town. One guy on the street acted as a recent arrival and was asking about recommendations for local hotels when two guys in civilian clothing identified themselves as cops (probably flashing a badge or ID of some type). The two fake cops and the other dude.....convince the visitor of the fake Euro bill thing, and the rest is history.
It's an odd strategy of a couple of common thieves. You stage yourself in the tourist district of Wiesbaden. You look only for foreigners because most Germans won't buy the story. You flash a badge and have the appears of a cop. No one has said much about the language used, but you get the impression that the fake cops speak in English to some degree. The amount usually taken? Most of the reports indicate several hundred Euro....never into the thousands. Does it happen more often? Maybe they run a guy or gal through this and only take a hundred here or a hundred there....but you can't be sure about because no one reports it.
Worth the hassle if caught? Well....the thing is....the odds seem to be in the favor of the fake cops. The same guys? The Wiesbaden cops won't say that....which leads one to think it's a group of folks who just do it for 'nickels and dimes'. An odd episode, if you ask me.
No comments:
Post a Comment