Romance frauds in Jičín district: senior citizen loses 2.5 million crowns
Police in Jičín district are investigating two cases of online fraud in which perpetrators exploited the trust of victims. The total damage exceeds 2.5 million crowns.
Fake soldier and doctor from Afghanistan robbed victims in Jičín district
Novinky.cz reported on two cases of romance fraud that were reported to police in Jičín district last week. In both cases, the perpetrators exploited the trustfulness of the victims through fabricated stories and extracted more than 2.5 million crowns from them in total.
"In the first case, an unknown perpetrator contacted a senior citizen via social media, where he posed as a widowed soldier serving on a mission in Iraq. The contact between them lasted approximately three years," said police spokesperson Martin Stránský.
During this period, the perpetrator gradually built the woman's trust and, under various pretexts connected with personal and family problems, extracted approximately 2.5 million crowns from her. The victim sent money in the form of Steam vouchers as well as bank transfers to predetermined accounts.
In the second case, a 60-year-old man became the target after being contacted by the perpetrator via a messaging application. This time the perpetrator posed as a doctor working in Afghanistan.
"The man was persuaded that she had sent a suitcase with cash intended for contract cancellation, which was to be held at the airport upon arrival and its release was allegedly conditional on paying various fees," explained Stránský.
The man sent a total of 70,000 crowns to the designated bank accounts in two payments. Subsequently, he was asked to pay a further 100,000 crowns for issuing a certificate necessary for the suitcase's release. He sent the first 50,000 crowns to the account, but when attempting the next payment, a bank employee alerted him. He became suspicious of fraud and did not complete the transfer.
Police in both cases initiated criminal proceedings on suspicion of committing fraud. Police have long warned that online fraudsters repeatedly use identical methods — false identities of soldiers or doctors working abroad — in order to extract money from trusting people under the guise of affection.
Source: Novinky.cz