Online shopping is a practice for many people, especially in the run-up to Christmas and in the face of tougher measures for the coronavirus in retail. But e-commerce also makes life easier for scammers. Suddenly unsuspecting people receive reminders of things they have never ordered or received. In Berlin alone, the damage in 2020 was, according to police, around 11.9 million euros.
A citizen from the Neukeln area fell victim to a parcel fraud. “The damage was many thousands of euros,” he says. Scammers ordered expensive sneakers, watches and perfumes in his name. “Some people took my name from a neighbor or a DHL branch.”
This man is by no means an isolated case. Berlin police recorded about 17,000 cases in 2011, while in 2020 about 22,500 were recorded. One reason is the boom in e-commerce. Perpetrators often only need one mailing address and one email address.
Difficult to find
Christian Burnett, Chief Criminal Investigator at the Office of Criminology, is aware of the fraudulent process. Some cover a mailbox with a fictitious name or give the names of neighbors. Some of the perpetrators know when the delivery services are coming, guarding nearby, checking the mailboxes for notifications or telling the neighbors that there was confusion. In some cases, delivery staff are involved and may have worked with the perpetrators.
According to the police, this fraud is mainly a phenomenon in the big cities due to the anonymity of its inhabitants. Contactless delivery due to coronavirus makes it even easier. At the same time, the cases are difficult to investigate, because the perpetrators leave no trace on the internet. “Mailing addresses and phone numbers are wrong,” says Bernight. The percentage of clarifications has decreased in the last ten years from 59% to about 20%.
Many younger actors are looking for expensive branded clothes to wear themselves or for resale. Scammers often order multiple packages at multiple addresses. “As a victim, you have no way of protecting your personal information in the event of fraudulent orders,” says Bernight.
Politicians need to take action
“Politicians need to address the issue and companies need to make the process safer. But it has not been done yet,” he added. Victims of internet theft can turn to consumer associations which can go to court.
Mail companies and e-banks stress that they will pay more attention to security issues in the future. An Amazon spokesman said that they have taken all necessary measures to prevent the use of a stolen account. Customers who are victims of fraud are protected, the company says.
The man from Nickel, however, emphasizes that “it is important, in any case, to make a complaint”. In his case, all the online sellers were cooperative. “Still, it was very annoying, especially when there was a real burglary attempt to get things done.”
According to the police, however, despite any successes, the perpetrators remain free or when they are arrested, small fines or suspended sentences are imposed on them.
Ania Solokov, Andreas Rabenstein (DPA)
Edited by: Maria Rigoutsou
Source: Deutsche Welle
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Source From: Capital

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