“Hi Mom! My phone got water damaged and this is my temporary number now.” A 53-year-old mother from the Linz-Land district recently received this WhatsApp message from an unknown participant. It seemed as if it could only be her son who was studying in Vienna. “Felix?” she wrote back questioningly.
The perpetrators then began to tell their lies: Unfortunately, the mobile phone fell in the toilet and therefore the “son” cannot access his telebanking at the moment because the bank has not yet confirmed the new number. But there is an “important transfer” of 3,600 euros to an account in Spain. “I wanted to ask you if you could advance it and I’ll give it back to you the day after tomorrow,” the scammers said.
“My son talked about a semester abroad, I thought maybe he needed the amount for it,” says Ms. E. in an interview with OÖN. She transferred the money. Only then did she have doubts, says the reader. So she and her son would primarily write in dialect and not consistently High German. “Also, my son doesn’t use smileys that much when he writes.”
A call to the real Felix on the usual number then brought the scam to light. Chief Inspector Gerald Sakoparnig, who is responsible for cases of fraud in the State Criminal Police Office, knows these cases. “This wave started two to three months ago.” When chatting, the perpetrators hope for a coincidence, “because they don’t know whether there is a son or a daughter,” says the investigator. The hopes of getting the money back are slim. Because the recipient account is just an intermediate station. “It stays there less than 20 minutes and is quickly forwarded.”
The criminalist advises that “a healthy dose of distrust” is always required for online activities.
Source: Nachrichten
