2023-10-27 08:17:13
Vienna. Driving license fraud in Austria is carried out in an extremely professional manner. According to information obtained from the police, test takers are first equipped with small headphones and mini cameras – in order to get instant answers from the outside – and sometimes Wi-Fi routers are placed under their clothes or smartphones are attached to their bodies to ensure that the candidates have a good connection with the people behind them.
Pointing out that such frauds started around 2019, authorities announced that such devices were seized in individual cases in several federal states. In 2021, a Viennese and a young couple were caught in Styria for manipulating a total of 90 driving tests. It was reported that the parties involved had to pay 2,000 euros each for outside assistance. It was learned that the incident was solved when an examiner suspected that the candidate who did not speak German knew all the answers completely.
120 cases were detected in Vienna
According to a source knowledgeable on the subject, there has been an explosion in the number of cases recently; This year, 120 cases were discovered in Vienna alone. The number of unreported cases was probably correspondingly high. In the background, hundreds of thousands, even millions of euros are being talked about.
The police were also left helpless after the Supreme Court (OGH) recently declared that such cases cannot be punished. All court decisions were overturned, and even the fines had to be repaid. The Supreme Court stated that there was no law violated by the participants. Thereupon, ongoing investigations and prosecutions were stopped.
So much so that scammers are now even openly offering help on social media. They have nothing to fear right now, but they could lose their equipment if a test taker is detected and authorities confiscate the devices. But considering the income, the loss is probably bearable; the cost of all equipment is less than a hundred euros per person. For example, mini cameras can be purchased online for as little as twenty euros.
Driving schools react to the situation
An angry driving school owner, “A colleague of mine wanted to solve the problem with a mobile phone signal jammer, but he gave up immediately when he learned what the penalty would be if the signal jammer became official.” says. Inspectors and state auditors also feel increasingly powerless and abandoned by politicians. Officials say that this situation within the institution is sometimes likened to cheating on a school exam. “I don’t understand how anyone can make such a comparison. If a student gets a good grade on a math exam by cheating, the biggest danger is that he or she will miscalculate more often in the future. On the other hand, having insufficient or no knowledge about correct and safe driving in traffic quickly leads to extremely dangerous erroneous behavior and, as a result, traffic accidents. In my view, this is a criminal, high-income business that could almost be called organized crime. “But all this is tolerated by the Austrian state and is considered a kind of bum joke.” criticizes. The office of the responsible Transport Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) leaves questions on this issue unanswered. (yenivatan.at)
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