Nineteen-year-old fraudster defrauded nearly fifty traders in Moravian-Silesian region of 600,000 crowns
The young woman collected goods from internet adverts in person from March to August but never paid. Moravian-Silesian detectives have cleared up 44 cases, and she faces up to five years in prison.
Nineteen-year-old collected goods and postponed payment – and never sent the money
Moravian-Silesian detectives have cleared up 44 cases of fraud committed from March to August of this year by a nineteen-year-old woman in Havířov, Český Těšín, Opava, Ostrava and other towns in the region. According to Novinky.cz, the total damage reached nearly 600,000 crowns.
The procedure was always the same: the woman spotted an advert on the internet, arranged a personal meeting by telephone and collected the goods – without paying.
"The goods were mostly electronic items, such as mobile phones, tablets or laptops, but also an electric bicycle, tools and drugstore products. In front of the sellers, the woman always pretended that she had made payment, or promised that she would pay via internet banking, but the money never reached the sellers," said police spokeswoman Nikol Bočková.
QR code did not solve the problem
In several cases, the sellers generated a QR code for payment. This did not stop the fraudster. "She scanned the code, but payment again did not reach the seller. When confronted on the spot, she claimed she had a foreign bank account and that the transfer would take longer. The seller usually believed her and handed over the goods," added Bočková.
Confession and custody
The police charged the woman with fraud. According to spokeswoman Bočková, the accused confessed to all the acts. She allegedly consumed the drugstore goods herself, sold the other stolen items and used the money for food and accommodation. She is currently being prosecuted in custody. If convicted, she faces up to five years imprisonment.
Ondřej Kapr from the Economic Crime Department of the Czech Police Headquarters also drew attention to the growing number of similar cases. "In recent years we have witnessed a sharp increase in crime committed in cyberspace, specifically fraudulent conduct. The attacks by perpetrators are becoming increasingly sophisticated and more frequent," warned Kapr.
Source: Novinky.cz