From "art experts"

Woman ripped off again after 18 years

The Waldviertel woman was visited by a supposed art connoisseur, to whom she left a lot of money. (symbolic picture).

(Bild: Stefan Gruber www.touristikfoto.com)

A 51-year-old woman from Waldviertel fell into a trap twice with a supposedly expensive art collection. First she paid too much for it, then 18 years later she was tricked again when she sold it. In total, 40,000 euros are gone...

These criminals obviously have a good memory. Because 18 years after a woman from Waldviertel (51) was ripped off once before, fraudsters struck again. In 2006, the woman had purchased ten collections of books, CDs and facsimiles from unknown persons. However, she was told a fairy tale about the value of these items.

A contract with consequences
Around two years ago, she wanted to part with them again. She was visited at home by an alleged art connoisseur who persuaded the 51-year-old to sign a contract instructing him to sell the items. This cost the woman around 6000 euros. The condition: she would get this amount back if the man did not succeed in selling the collections.

Not only did the woman pay far too much for the items, she also took out a loan.

Ein Ermittler zur „Krone“

In fact, two supposed colleagues of the "expert" recently contacted her to repay the money. In order to transfer the money, however, she had to enter her PIN on a cell phone app. This enabled the men to divert a further 999 euros. However, the fraud victim did not get her books and other items back.

In total, the woman suffered a loss of 40,000 euros. The police are investigating.