“She wrote to me that everything will be ready on the website of the Czech Post and I will only authorize two and a half thousand crowns, which was the agreed price for the goods. Immediately, a link to the postal website came from her. The pages looked completely credible, there were advertisements for Czech Post products on them, so I had no reason not to believe anything,” explains Olomoučan.
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He connected to the alleged postal website and filled in the information required for the “authorization” of two and a half thousand crowns. Unfortunately, he found out too late that there was probably no authorization involved.
“With this very step, I apparently gave unknown fraudsters immediate and unlimited access to my online banking. At the same time, it was not at all possible to recognize that I was allowing something to someone else. A clock suddenly appeared on the display, and at that moment I already knew it was a problem, because no payment from Internet banking has ever shown anything like this in the past,” recalls the seller.
The account could not be blocked
Then, according to him, things took a turn for the worse. He tried to immediately block the fraudsters’ access to the account and logged into Internet banking. Immediately he found out that he only had 150 thousand crowns left in his account. “That was about half of the original amount. I wanted to stop further payments immediately, but on Sunday evening it was not possible because my bank’s customer line was no longer in operation. I could only block the payment card, which was useless at the time. I immediately got into the car and drove to the police,” says the injured man.
His account was blocked later, but it was already almost empty. It was also discovered where all the savings actually disappeared. “The fraudsters had so-called immediate incoming payments set up on their accounts with two domestic banks, so they had my money with them practically immediately. For me, it was a matter of seconds. Savings from my account were literally disappearing before my eyes, additional amounts were constantly leaving. I was distraught that there was no way to immediately block the account in real time at the bank. At that moment, nothing could be done,” explains Olomoučan.
Fraudsters stole almost 300,000 crowns from his account in a very short time. He is also amazed at how quickly they were able to send payments to their accounts.
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“Within a few tens of seconds, it was all over, they took the account almost to zero, leaving me only a thousand. The bank then told me that I authorized the payment orders myself, so I probably won’t get the money back. I have already consulted a lawyer regarding this matter. It is a very bitter experience for me. I have been using internet banking for years, but now I will be even more careful about all payments,” states Olomoučan.
After this experience, he also changed the bank after fifteen years, although he was satisfied with its services until now. “I recommend everyone to switch to a bank that has a 24/7 customer line that they can call on weekends or even at night. The police are of course investigating the case, I don’t know yet what the chances are of catching the perpetrators. There have been more similar frauds recently, so people should be careful when selling goods on the Internet,” advises the injured man.
Deceived advertisers are on the rise
Fraudsters recently defrauded a man from Prostějov of 180,000 crowns in an almost identical way. He was selling cycling glasses worth 1,500 crowns on the Internet. A thirty-eight-year-old Olomouc woman selling smart watches for six thousand lost 22 thousand. A forty-six-year-old man from Olomouc who advertised a wheelchair for one thousand crowns is missing more than 90,000 crowns. A thirty-three-year-old woman from Olomouc also lost 180,000 crowns when she tried to make extra money by selling children’s goods on the Internet.
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Because fraud is on the rise in the region, the police recommend great caution. “If you’re selling something over the Internet, be alert whenever someone tries to convince you of non-standard procedures. Do not open the links sent in this context, do not access payments for arrears, overpayments or deposits and do not enter your payment details at all,” recommends police spokeswoman Petra Vaňharová.
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