A 74-year-old woman from the district became the victim of an internet fraudster who tricked her into believing she was in love on an online platform in order to get her money. The Moosburg police are on this case of the weekend Love-Scamming, as the scam is called, has been made aware. Although the woman has already been cheated for 8,000 euros, according to the police, she continues to believe in love.
The 74-year-old has apparently been in an online relationship for three months with a man who claims to be a “high-ranking” soldier in Kabul. Communication takes place via the Facebook Messenger. The man informed the injured party that he had sent a package that had been confiscated by an authority in Spain. To “trigger” it, she had to transfer 10,000 euros to a foreign account. She’ll get the money back later. According to the current state of the investigation, the woman recently transferred 8,000 euros to the said account. Despite extensive advice from the officers, she does not believe it was fraud and initially refused to contact the police.
In love or romance scamming, the fraudsters with a false identity look for contacts in online dating sites or in social networks. Once contact has been established, the victims are showered with expressions of love and attention – in order to get their money. “For example, the perpetrators pretend to the virtual partner that they ran into financial difficulties on a business trip to West Africa. Or they need money for an important operation on their child or a relative,” said the police. Sometimes calls on mobile phones or Skype without a picture in English are supposed to create a personal bond. When emotional dependency has been established, victims are asked – and often do – to transfer money. Prepaid cell phones are often used for which the owner cannot be traced.
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