Fraudsters have come up with a new idea to extort money from foreign professionals who live and work in Wroclaw. You as a prospective victim receive a phone call from people who introduce themselves as representatives of either an embassy or local authorities. The caller demands in English that your persona data must be provided and a payment must be made to extend your residence and work permit in Poland. You are threatened with prison and deportation in case you fail to do so.
"We've heard of such cases from the representatives of, multinational companies based in Wroclaw. The fraudsters prey on the growing numbers of foreign nationals in the city. The companies we are working with offer legal employment only, so their personnel have no reasons to worry," says Aleksandra Klonowska-Drozd from the Wroclaw Metropolitan Area Development Agency.
Money or deportation
Donata Zahorodna from Express Relocations, which provides relocation services to foreign professionals in Wroclaw, recalls a story of one Indian national who was asked to pay 20 thousand PLN."
"The caller introduced herself as an employee of the Indian Embassy to Poland in Warsaw. She said that the case was urgent, and if he still wanted to work in Wroclaw, he should not share the story with anybody. He was asked to provide his passport number, date of birth, date of arrival in Poland and residence address in Wroclaw. He was required to transfer 20 thousand PLN because he had supposedly provided the wrong date of birth while leaving India and was facing the prospect of deportation," says Donata Zahorodna.
Another man, who was put through a similar scheme, left a meeting in his company, went to the bank and paid 5 thousand PLN into the account he had been provided with.
Don't get fooled
The police have no doubt that these are fraudulent attempts to extort money.
"There is no way you can sort out your case that involves a money transfer over the phone," says Superintendent Kamil Rynkiewicz, Regional Police Headquarters in Wroclaw.
In such cases you should put down the phone number you were contacted with, refuse to provide your personal data and by no means transfer any money to the account provided. Ideally, you can inform your employee or report the case in person at your local police station or over the phone at 997 or 112.
