30,000 euros transferred

Fraud: Pensioner had a stroke of bad luck

A pensioner fell for a message from fraudsters pretending to be her son.

(Bild: www.picturedesk.com/Eva Manhart/APA, stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

In this case, the victim can almost thank the fraudsters. After all, they were the ones who made it possible for the woman to get almost the entire amount back. 

We simply cannot warn people often enough about scams like this one. Maria B. (name changed) received a WhatsApp message from her supposed son asking her to transfer money. It was an emergency situation. The 63-year-old promptly transferred her entire savings of 30,000 euros.

Transfer could not be stopped
"As soon as we found out about it, we immediately contacted the police, the bank branch and the emergency number there to stop the transfer. This was no longer possible, even though only a few hours had passed," the daughter-in-law explains. The bank did not support a reclaim after that either, which is why the family finally asked the ombudswoman for help.

Fraudsters were too "slow"
Everything happened very quickly afterwards. BAWAG was able to secure almost the entire amount and transfer it back to Ms. B.. This was possible because the fraudsters had not yet repaid or transferred the money, as is the case in most fraud cases. Fortunately, the seizure was successful in this case.

Tips from the experts
Unfortunately, this WhatsApp scam is still very common, confirms the Internet Ombudsman's Office. In most cases, an emergency is feigned and at the same time a reason is given for a supposedly new telephone number. If you receive a message like "Hi mom, I have a new phone number. My cell phone and SIM are broken. I dropped the cell phone and a car drove over it. The old number can be removed", you should be skeptical at first.

As a first step, the professionals advise calling the person's known and saved telephone number immediately and asking whether anything is actually happening. If no one answers, you can also try the new number. The case can usually be resolved this way. If you are still unsure, the experts advise you to simply ask a question that only your own daughter or son can answer, according to another tip. 

Photo trick is new
Recently, fraudsters have also started asking people to send them photos of themselves. Using a pretext such as: "Do you have any pictures of me? Because I've lost everything". These are then presumably used for further scams. So be suspicious and ask too many questions!