Scam Warnings — Protect Yourself
These scams specifically target newcomers in Germany. Read carefully and share with friends.
Job Scam — Upfront Payment Demanded
Red flag: legitimate employers never charge money to hire you. If someone promises a well-paid job in exchange for a registration fee, training fee, or deposit — it is 100% a scam.
How to spot it: A real employer never charges you to hire you. If they promise good pay and then ask for a registration fee, training fee, uniform deposit or “visa guarantee”, it is a scam. German consumer centres call this advance-fee fraud: they take the money, often the ID, then vanish.
How they work: The ad sits on Facebook, Telegram, sometimes a normal job board. The company name may be real and stolen. They chat only on WhatsApp and “hire” you in a few hours with no interview. Next comes Video-Ident or a new account “for your salary”. That is not onboarding. That is how they steal data to open accounts or launder money.
Red flag: ⚠️ High pay for easy work. Vague tasks. Chat only. Passport copy before a contract. Unknown software. No genuine firm does this before an employment contract.
Tip: 💡 Do not send a euro before you have a signed paper contract and have met a real person. Money only when the paperwork is enough. Before any payment, ask your community, someone you trust, or paste the chat into ChatGPT. Still unsure? Call the Agentur für Arbeit or a Verbraucherzentrale.
Read more: 🔗 Verbraucherzentrale — job scamming. Already paid? Call the bank, keep the chat and receipts, report it to the police. The money is often gone. The report still helps the next person.
Renting Out Your Bank Account
"Let me use your account, I'll pay you commission" — this is a trap! You become liable for money laundering under German law, regardless of whether you know where the money came from. Consequences: criminal charges, account closure, deportation.
How to spot it: “Lend me your account, I will pay commission” is not a side job. It is the Finanzagent trap. Stolen money hits your German account. You are told to withdraw cash, send Western Union, or hand it to a stranger. Police and the BKA are blunt: that can be money laundering under section 261, even if you “did not know where it came from”.
How they work: Facebook, a bar, or an ad for a “payment agent”. Kind voice, always replies. A 5–20 percent cut sounds easy. After a few transfers the bank freezes the account. The people who were tricked into sending the money can sue you, because it sat in your name.
Red flag: ⚠️ Someone wants your IBAN. An ID photo for an “online company”. You should forward money that just arrived. For apprentices a frozen account means no Ausbildung pay, a damaged Schufa, and trouble with residence papers. A criminal case is not a small slip.
Tip: 💡 Never let anyone use your IBAN. Do not forward strange money. Before anything moves: ask your community or paste the offer into ChatGPT. If money already arrived, do not send it on. Call the bank and the police.
Read more: 🔗 Police advice on financial agents, Berlin police, Verbraucherzentrale.
WhatsApp/Telegram Investment Scams
Strangers contact you via social media, inviting you to invest in crypto or stocks with "guaranteed" high returns. They first allow small withdrawals to build trust, then disappear with your money when you invest large amounts. Never trust online strangers with financial decisions.
How to spot it: A stranger in WhatsApp or Telegram offering a “stock club”, crypto, or an AI bot with guaranteed returns? That is not a chance. BaFin says it knows of no licensed firm that hunts German investors in chat groups. A “sure” 100 or 700 percent is a warning, not skill.
How they work: Facebook ad, closed group, friendly mentor. First 200–300 euros. Sometimes a small payout so you stay. Then pressure to send more. When you try to withdraw they ask for “tax” or an “unlock fee”. The site dies. Your money never sat in a real brokerage. It sat in their wallet.
Red flag: ⚠️ Guaranteed profit. “Only a few seats left.” Celebrity deepfakes. A green demo balance. Real banks do not recruit in chat groups.
Tip: 💡 Do not send money to an unknown account. Do not trust the green number in an app. Before one euro: ask your community, a real person you trust, or paste the screenshot into ChatGPT. Look the firm up in the BaFin company database. If it is not there, stop.
Read more: 🔗 BaFin — investment fraud on WhatsApp and Telegram. Already paid? Keep the chats, tell the bank, report to the police. Do not pay another “withdrawal fee”.
Fake Police Officer Phone Calls
Scammers call pretending to be police officers or prosecutors, claiming your account is under investigation and demanding a money transfer or cash handover to a "security officer". Real German police NEVER do this by phone.
How to spot it: German police never call to ask for money, gold, or a cash handover to a “security officer”. That line is on polizei-beratung.de. The callers pretend to be police, the LKA or a prosecutor. They say your account is under review, your name is on a burglary list. The point is fear, then a handover.
How they work: The display may show 110 or a local station. That is caller-ID spoofing, not a real line. They keep you on the phone for hours so you cannot ask anyone. Then a collector comes to the door, or they tell you to leave a bag outside.
Red flag: ⚠️ They ask for your balance. They want cash “for evidence”. They send a payment link. They will not let you hang up. Real officers do not do this.
Tip: 💡 Hang up. Rudeness is allowed. Dial 110 yourself, not redial, not the number they gave you. Say nothing about money. Before anything valuable leaves the flat, ask a neighbour, your community, or tell ChatGPT the story. If the plot is “the police need your money”, it is a scam. Money only against real papers, in a real office, not at the door.
Read more: 🔗 Hamburg police on call-centre fraud. Already handed something over? Report it. Keep the number and a description of the collector.
Housing & Deposit Scams
Ads on Facebook or WG-Gesucht offer apartments at unrealistically low prices. The "landlord" demands a deposit before you view the place — then disappears. Never transfer money before you have a signed rental contract and have personally viewed the property.
How to spot it: A Facebook or WG-Gesucht ad at an unreal price, a “landlord abroad”, a deposit before you view. Then silence. That is a deposit scam. WG-Gesucht itself: never pay before a viewing. Verbraucherzentrale Berlin: a German rental deposit is due after the contract, when the tenancy starts, not before.
How they work: Stolen photos. Rent below the area. English or broken German. A passport scan. Keys by post. Western Union, MoneyGram, or an “Airbnb payment for a stranger”. Sometimes they even let you view a place. Then they want the deposit before you sign. Then they disappear.
Red flag: ⚠️ Far too cheap. No meeting. Keys by post. Deposit before a signature. A German lease is paper. No signature and no key you tested yourself means no reason to transfer money.
Tip: 💡 No money until you have stood in the room and hold a signed contract. Pay only when the papers are enough. Keys by post? Refuse. Before a deposit, ask a Vietnamese housing group, a classmate, or paste the chat into ChatGPT. Compare the rent with the neighbourhood. Far too cheap is almost always a trap.
Read more: 🔗 WG-Gesucht on fake ads, Verbraucherzentrale on fake flats. Report fakes to kontakt@wg-gesucht.de. Already paid? Call the bank and the police.
Fake DHL/Customs SMS
Fake SMS pretending to be DHL, Hermes, or customs demand a "customs fee" via a link. The link leads to a phishing page to steal your credit card details. DHL and courier services never request payment through unknown SMS links.
How to spot it: An SMS that says “DHL / customs / Deutsche Post: parcel held, pay €2.99 at this link” is almost always a scam. Customs says payment demands do not arrive by SMS, email or WhatsApp, only by letter (unless you joined an official electronic procedure). DHL says the same: no personal data and no payment by SMS.
How they work: A short URL or an odd domain (.top, .info, .site) that still contains “dhl”. Sender shows as “Delivery” or a foreign prefix. The fake page copies the real logo. The legal notice may even jump to dhl.de. The goal is your card, banking login, or malware.
Red flag: ⚠️ A twelve-hour deadline. A tiny fee that sounds harmless. A shortened link. A real customs fee sits on the official site or in a letter, not in a rushed text.
Tip: 💡 Do not tap the link. Open a browser and type dhl.de, or use the official app. Before you pay any “parcel fee”, ask a friend, your community, or show ChatGPT the screenshot. Money only when the official page or paper is enough. Send a screenshot to phishing@dhl.com.
Read more: 🔗 Customs on phishing, DHL security notes, BSI. Already typed a card? Freeze it, change passwords, report it.