A 52-year-old Cracovian man let himself be cheated by an ‘American soldier’. Pretending to be him, the fraudster promised dollars and gold bars, but in the meantime conned him out of several thousand euros, informed Bartosz Izdebski from the press office of the Cracow Regional Police Headquarters.
The fraudster, claiming to be a uniformed officer stationed in Iraq, made contact via one of the internet portals with a resident of Cracow. The men exchanged messages for several weeks. In mid-September, he asked the 52-year-old for money for food because he claimed, terrorists had deprived him of food.
The 52-year-old then deposited PLN 10,000 in virtual currency at an exchange office into a virtual wallet number provided by the criminal. In return for the financial support, the criminal promised to send the Pole a substantial sum of dollars and gold bars.
The consignment with valuables was allegedly sent from Iraq, but first, as he claimed, it got stuck at the airport in Kyiv, and the resident of Cracow had to pay an additional tax of more than €3,500. The 52-year-old then had to pay more than €11,000 in additional ‘insurance’.
When no shipment arrived, the man guessed that he had been scammed and lost several thousand euros. The fraud is being investigated by the police, who have already appealed for caution when making online acquaintances.
“Fraudsters are constantly inventing new methods by which they first gain the trust of and then steal from their victims. Do not give virtual acquaintances your personal data, home address, account numbers, information about your possessions, etc. Do not, under any circumstances, make transfers or send money at the request of online interlocutors. Remember that you never know who is on the other side of the screen,” – warn the officers from Cracow Police Headquarters