– When reading media reports about people who have fallen victim to a scammer, we often think that it will not happen to us, that we are careful after all. However, we forget that scammers’ ingenuity knows no bounds – emphasizes asp. szt. Sylwia Serafin, press officer of the District Police Headquarters in Lubin. – They appear in the least expected places, using their ability to conduct conversations, the other person’s gullibility and lack of caution solely to manipulate a potential victim from whom they will extort money. Unfortunately, “meeting” such a person on our path, when we let our emotions take over and fail to remain vigilant, can be very painful for us.
One resident of Lubin County learned this the hard way. For some time, she had been corresponding via an online messenger with a person claiming to be an American soldier on a mission in Afghanistan.
Spokeswoman:
During their conversations, the man assured her that he had fallen in love with the 64-year-old woman. Their plans also included living together in Poland.
One day, however, something changed—the woman received a message from the “military man” saying that he was fed up with his job and wanted to retire. The scammer wrote to his victim that he had sent her a package containing documents, but she was supposed to pay for it.
The 64-year-old woman made the first transfer: 1,000 euros. That was not enough for the “American”; the woman had to make several more payments. In total, she lost more than PLN 20,000.
The fake soldier assured her that he would return all the money as soon as he retired and came to Poland. Of course, nothing of the sort happened.
This type of fraud is punishable by between six months and as much as eight years in prison.