Upper Austrian (67) deprived of his savings: Police warn of investment fraudsters

The man from the Salzkammergut originally thought he had found a reputable portal in Germany and registered there. A few days later he received a call from a man with a German dialect. He already knew all his data and contacted the Upper Austrian several times. He ended up transferring a high five-figure euro amount to a Dutch account.

From the archive: Innviertler cheated out of millions in online fraud (March 2023)

The responsible bank contacted the 67-year-old to ask whether the transfer should actually be made. Once he had confirmed this and the sum had been transferred, the rude awakening came: the money was immediately withdrawn from the Dutch account, and the Upper Austrian did not receive the promised access data for his online deposit.

• More on the subject: Armin Assinger used as a decoy: Internet fraudster ripped off pensioners in Lower Austria (January 2024)

The 67-year-old filed a complaint on Tuesday and the investigation is ongoing.

These are the police’s tips on how you can avoid such traps:

• Stay suspicious! Please don’t believe everything you see, hear and read on the internet.
• Please contact the Financial Market Authority at www.fma.gv.at, where you will find ongoing fraud traps
• Under “Watchlist Internet” you will find further traps/fakes, as well as internet fraud sites and other tips.
• Do you carefully check the legal notice, email addresses and customer service representatives or names of the respective pages? The deceptions are often very similar, but always contain errors and, above all, different domain addresses than those on the official website.
• Don’t be tempted by the promised wealth gains and be sure to get a second opinion first.
• Do not allow strangers to remotely access your computer online.
• In the event of damage, contact your bank immediately and then file a police report

You might also be interested in:

• 27,600 reports in the previous year: Police and banks want to take action against internet fraud (November 2023)
• How cybercriminals are increasingly using AI – and how you can protect yourself (November 2023)
• Podcast: Why online fraud is always in season

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