The woman even took out a loan herself. Only when she told him that she had no more money was the alleged manager of a large American company no longer available, according to the Styrian police department on Thursday.
The Styrian from the Murtal district met the allegedly 63-year-old American-Swiss dual citizen in July 2021. He said he has a major project underway in Turkey and expects to win millions of euros. Over the months he built up a relationship of trust with her. Communication was via telephone and email. At some point, the man started telling her about emergency situations and asked for money transfers to several currently unknown accounts. There were also handovers of cash to strangers in Vienna.
The supposed managing director promised the 68-year-old interest on the “borrowed” money, which is why she kept sending him something. Only when she had nothing left did the contact break off. The Styrian then filed a complaint. The copies of the documents that she had received from him are likely to be forgeries.
The so-called dating agency fraud – also called “love scam” – is a rip-off that is now frequently used. Scammers pretend love or relationships via social networks on the Internet and thereby gain the trust of their victims. Emergency situations are then presented and often the victims fall for them and transfer money. In fact, the supposed partners do not exist in the way they are portrayed, they are false identities. Behind it are usually scammers with good manners and good camouflage. The given identities are sometimes real, well-off citizens who have no idea that their name and, in some cases, their website are being used for fraudulent purposes.
Source: Nachrichten
