Deep financial hole

Simple Bitcoin scam with fatal consequences

A man from the Oberpullendorf district lost over 2,000 euros to fraudsters.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

The dream of a lucrative investment is over - instead of high profits, all that remains in the end is a deep financial hole in the household budget. Now a Burgenlander has also been affected.

It all started on a small scale. In 2010, the first exchange rate for one Bitcoin (BTC) was a meagre 0.07 US dollars. According to this calculation by New Liberty Standard, investors could have bought around 13.10 Bitcoins with one dollar. In 2012, the exchange rate was still only a few euros.

Price rose
But in the following year, the price rose sharply and climbed continuously. In 2014, the remarkable mark of 1000 euros was reached. At the time, this sum represented one Bitcoin. The business attracted more and more interested parties.

Apart from Bitcoin, there are also Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), Tron (TRX) and many other currencies on the crypto market. "Not all of them have a chance of surviving for long," is how insiders assess the situation. There are currently 420 million users worldwide, with 1.5 million owning more than one Bitcoin, which makes up only a fraction of investors globally.

Investments advertised
"Invest today" is advertised on the global web. However, as with all online transactions, extreme caution is required. Fraudsters are often behind these solicitations. Users fall for the trick time and time again. One Burgenlander was duped by a criminal.

One-off payment demanded
The perpetrator pretended to be Johann M.. After initial initial contact, the supposed Bitcoin professional extracted a one-off payment of 250 euros from the "customer". "That was the door opener to the victim's personal secret data," says an investigator. The new investor from the district of Oberpullendorf was instructed to register with the "anydesk" platform.

About Bitcoin fraud

Bitcoin has risen by 58 percent this year to a good 66,000 US dollars and reached its current all-time high of almost 74,000 dollars in the spring. In the short term, the value fell to around 61,320 dollars. According to experts, the majority of market observers are confident about the future. When the fraudsters quietly and secretly drop their masks, it is usually too late for investors. The victims have to fork out a lot of money.

Loss of over 2000 euros
The fraudster was able to access the investor's account. More than 2,000 euros were debited until the scam was discovered. "Not an isolated case", warn industry experts. The bitter realization from the deals on the crypto market: the advertised profit thanks to an investment in a digital currency did not materialize, the loss of 2250 euros is not covered by any insurance.