All the money gone – man completely powerless against fraud – Salzburg
A German living in Salzburg became the victim of a nasty scam. When he realized this, all he could do was watch his money flow away.
A 44-year-old wanted to sell his company and published an advertisement on an internet platform. The first offers soon began to arrive – the Salzburg-based German settled on an offer from two men who demanded a commission of 100,000 euros for facilitating the deal. A gross mistake, as it turned out later.
Business meeting in Milan
The victim meets with the prospect’s alleged son and his business partner in Milan to clarify contractual details. The dubious interested parties installed a cryptocurrency wallet on the 44-year-old’s cell phone for the sale and carried out a test payment to check the functionality. What the victim didn’t consider: Now the scammers had access to his data and could pull off their scam.
Fraud can no longer be stopped
A week later, the German drove to Strasbourg to meet the perpetrators once more. He transferred the agreed provision of 100,000 euros to his wallet. However, the man then received a message that the meeting had to be postponed – that’s when he became suspicious. He opened his wallet and saw the entire amount being transferred away from the cryptocurrency wallet. Particularly bitter: The German had no chance to stop or reverse the process.
Through the cooperation with the Austrian Embassy from Thailand and the Australian Federal Police, two suspects from Sri Lanka (19 and 24 years old) could be investigated, they were responsible for the transfer of the cryptocurrency. The duo is reported to the Salzburg public prosecutor’s office. There is still no trace of the men the victim met in Milan.