Promised winnings

Carinthian woman fell for the same scammer twice

A 68-year-old woman from the district of Spittal an der Drau has fallen for the same online scammer twice within a few months and lost several tens of thousands of euros. The Carinthian woman had hoped both times to make high profits via cryptocurrencies - but nothing came of it, the police reported in a press release.

The woman fell victim to the fraudster for the first time in May 2024 after she became aware of the purchase of bitcoins on a platform on the internet. In a phone call, the perpetrator, who was unknown to her, promised high profits from investing in Bitcoin.

The 68-year-old then invested a "mid five-digit euro amount" in five partial payments to German and Spanish bank accounts, according to the police. After the promised profits failed to materialize and the money was not transferred back, the woman noticed the fraud and reported it to the police.

On December 2, 2024, she was contacted again via WhatsApp by an investment advisor from the same company. In the message, she was informed that she had a Bitcoin balance of several 100,000 euros - she only had to transfer a transaction fee for the money to flow. The 68-year-old transferred several tens of thousands of euros in four installments, this time to different Italian accounts, but again received nothing in return.