A 40-year-old woman from the Gmünd district fell victim to the new scam in mid-April. The person concerned advertised an item for 50 euros on a social media platform. With the “buyer” unknown to her, it was agreed via messenger service that she should temporarily pay for the alleged transport costs. The woman bought prepaid credit card codes for a total of 600 euros and then sent them to the perpetrator. Only after the perpetrator again demanded 1,000 euros from the victim did he report it to the police.
The police warn that such fraudulent activities have increased on various online platforms in recent months. Experience has shown that the fraudulent approach of the perpetrators is the same. The victims offer items for sale on the platforms and are then contacted by the perpetrators via chat or messenger. Then, for a variety of reasons, it is required to pre-finance the transport costs using various voucher codes or cryptocurrency. The perpetrators promise to reimburse the costs of transport after the purchased goods have been sent.
The victims comply with the request and receive a code when purchasing such a voucher code or crypto currency, which they transmit to the perpetrators. The perpetrators then have access to the respective means of payment and can redeem the amount at any time and at their own discretion.
Since the perpetrator profiles on the platforms are fictitious and are not checked for accuracy by the respective platforms, the clarification of such a criminal offense is extremely difficult.
Source: Nachrichten
