Two rip-off attempts

How brazenly fraudsters lured a pensioner into a trap

The pensioner saw through the call from a "bank employee" in time. However, she fell for another scam shortly beforehand.

(Bild: CH. HORZ)

First the supposed daughter, then the fake bank employee: a pensioner from the Waldviertel region was contacted twice by fraudsters within a short space of time. And she was ripped off more than just once ...

Criminals had an obvious "lucky strike" when selecting their victims at random. A 68-year-old woman from the Horn district proved to be extremely gullible: first of all, the woman received a text message that many people in the country had already received before her. Fraudsters pretended to be her daughter, who had to get a new cell phone and was in deep financial trouble.

Only noticed too late
The woman from Waldviertel acted instinctively and transferred the four-digit amount demanded to her supposed child. Only too late did she realize that it was not her own child. She then immediately called her bank to see if she could still reverse the transaction.

Fraudsters always try to give a highly dramatic account of a misfortune. In such situations, you should not be persuaded to do anything and never give out sensitive data.

Ein Ermittler zur „Krone“

As soon as she hung up, a criminal contacted her again, this time by telephone. At the other end of the line, a stranger curiously introduced himself as a bank employee. He also called with a familiar scam. The pensioners probably had a virus on their cell phones, which could also lead to unwanted transfers. However, he promised that the man could remove it remotely.

The 68-year-old was shocked by the message and initially believed him. She installed an app as requested and allowed the caller to take control of her cell phone. She only became suspicious when the alleged expert also asked for her bank details. She then ended the call.

"Unfortunately, the perpetrators will stop at nothing," says the police, who have started investigating both cases.