Over €100,000 lost

82-year-old fell for scammers for two years

The Mühlviertler kept transferring money (symbolic image).

(Bild: Andrey Popov/stock.adobe.com)

A pensioner from the Mühlviertel region was taken in by professional fraudsters over a period of two years. The criminals repeatedly promised that the 82-year-old would be paid out a profit. And time and again, the criminals claimed that fees or programs were still required.

It all started with a television advertisement that the 82-year-old from Mühlviertel saw in 2022. Based on the clip, the senior citizen made investments that promised large profits in the form of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Even then, the pensioner filed a complaint with the police as the promised profit was not paid out.

After around a year, however, the still unknown perpetrators contacted the 82-year-old again: his winnings from 2022 had increased significantly and he only needed to transfer transaction fees to receive the amount. The victim filed another fraud complaint.

Program installed on laptop
And this year, on August 5, the Mühlviertel pensioner turned up at the police station again after alleged agents contacted him again. The 82-year-old fell for the scam again: In several phone calls, he was told that the winnings had been secured by an agency and that they would now like to pay out the sum. The senior citizen therefore installed a program on his laptop, which gave the perpetrators access to his computer.

Bank already blocked account
The result: the unknown fraudsters made twelve transfers to various accounts. They also urged their victim to buy vouchers from a supermarket chain, and the 82-year-old sent the codes to the perpetrators. In May 2024, the bank blocked the pensioner's account because there had been numerous dubious transfers. However, according to the police, the fraud continued with the Mühlviertler's new account.

The total loss amounts to more than 100,000 euros.