A man called a 24-year-old woman from Lubin and told her that, because she had traded on the stock market in the past, she had PLN 40,000 waiting to be paid out. – Because the woman from Lubin had tried her hand at cryptocurrency trading several years earlier, she believed the person she was speaking to – explains asp. szt. Monika Kaleta from the Provincial Police Headquarters in Wrocław. – The man convinced her that, in order to collect the cash prize, she needed a certificate and had to pay PLN 30,000 to facilitate the transfer of the money.
The 24-year-old believed the fraudster and, at his urging, took out a PLN 30,000 loan. Then she waited for the promised prize.
However, she never received it. What is more, the next day the same man called the young woman. He told the victim that the prize transfer had failed because she had been placed on a “blacklist” and that, to unblock the funds, she had to pay another PLN 30,000. The woman from Lubin therefore took out a second loan. And… she lost PLN 60,000 in total.
Police:
We appeal for common sense and compliance with online safety rules. Initial contact with the victim usually takes place via email, telephone or a text messenger. Fraudsters persuade victims to install remote desktop access software and log in to their bank account.
They add:
If a “consultant” suggests that we install such software, we can be sure it is a scam! Let us not be tempted by the prospect of quick profit or a win that requires us to pay extra.