Students exposed

Luxury life financed with Rolex superclones

The dream of many Styrians: a genuine Rolex.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com, krone.at-Grafik)

They wanted to live in luxury, but they didn't have the necessary change. So three students offered fake Rolex watches - "made in China" - on a sales platform in Graz and Vienna. It was impossible for a layman to tell the difference. Until the trio came into contact with an undercover investigator following a complaint in Vienna. That's when the handcuffs clicked. 

One of the accused received a very generous present from his father for his 18th birthday: a Rolex. This somehow gave the 20-year-old from Graz a taste for luxury items and he became increasingly interested in them.

He had the perfect partner in his best friend (21), who had long had a penchant for expensive watches. On the Internet, they came across a platform offering "superclones" made in China. These are clones for which the original watch is purchased, measured using state-of-the-art methods and then replicated. They struck.

Forged certificates of authenticity from a luxury jeweler
The students then tested an acquaintance to see whether the plagiarism could pass as an original. When that worked, the plan was clear. They bought the fakes in China for an average of around 500 euros and then sold them on a trading platform as originals. To do this, they checked the genuine watch boxes, care instructions and forged certificates of authenticity from a Viennese luxury jeweler. The Viennese girlfriend (20) of the mastermind was also brought on board. She registered two cell phones under false names and handled the sales.

A buyer noticed the fraud, demanded his money back, kept the counterfeit and called the police

(Bild: stock.adobe.com (Symbolbild))

In January, the handcuffs finally clicked in Vienna when the fraudsters tried to sell the 12,500 euro fake Rolex Datejust to an undercover investigator from the Federal Criminal Police Office in a café. A buyer had called the police.

Victims are still walking around with fakes
Between August 2023 and January 2024, the three made between 2,200 and 16,000 euros per watch sale. Eight criminal acts were charged by the Graz public prosecutor's office, although only two victims are known by name. The rest are presumably still walking around with a fake on their wrist. Anyone who feels concerned should visit their trusted watchmaker.

The three fraudsters have confessed. The trial will take place in Graz in July.