Phishing fraud in Salzburg: Four suspects identified after €55,000 theft
A 63-year-old woman from Salzburg lost over €55,000 through an SMS phishing attack. Police have identified and questioned four suspects.
Four men charged with phishing attack on Salzburg woman
A 63-year-old woman from Salzburg was defrauded of more than €55,000 in November 2025 through a multi-stage phishing scam. According to kurier.at, Salzburg Police announced that four suspects have been identified and questioned. All four men are being reported to the public prosecutor's office whilst at liberty.
The fraud began on 10 November 2025 with an SMS in which the woman was asked to renew her ID-Austria. She subsequently entered personal data on a website that became inaccessible shortly afterwards.
Two days later, an unknown man called, posing as a bank employee. To gain her trust, he mentioned the name of the woman's actual bank consultant. He then alerted her to allegedly unusual account movements and persuaded her to confirm several TAN codes — which authorised transactions totalling over €55,000.
Immediate security measures made it possible to secure €2,600 and return it to the victim. Police evaluated bank information and were able to trace the money flows. It emerged that the majority of the transferred amounts had been withdrawn from the recipient accounts within just a few hours of arrival.
Surveillance videos also showed two heavily disguised individuals withdrawing cash. The holders of four Austrian recipient accounts were identified and questioned.
The suspects are a 38-year-old Armenian, a 27-year-old Slovak, a 22-year-old Austrian, and a 19-year-old Syrian. The investigation is ongoing.
Source: Google News AT — Crime (de)