Trap 1: the ship's engineer in Tripoli
In one of the cases, the unknown perpetrator posed as a ship's engineer in Tripoli, who spent months building up a trusting relationship with an 81-year-old woman over the Internet. Ultimately, he repeatedly demanded money from the woman and promised her that he would invest it profitably. At the last demand, she called her son and the police were informed. The damage amounts to a mid-four-digit euro amount.
Case 2: Soldiers in Yemen from the US Army
In another incident, an unknown fraudster asked a woman to wire money to buy out a U.S. soldier in Yemen. In this case too, there were a total of ten monetary transactions. The resulting damage amounts to a mid-five-digit euro amount.
The police are investigating.
Crime prevention tips:
- Internet relationships are of course possible in principle, but if the other person demands money from you, you should exercise caution.
- Do not transfer money, even if a tragic emergency is claimed.
- Pay attention to the protection of your data and be careful when disclosing details about yourself.
- Check the privacy settings on your online profiles.
- Be skeptical about unsolicited letters from men or women on the Internet - these are mass mailings to many people.
- Ask yourself whether your online acquaintance really has similar interests or might have spied on your online profile.
- Enter the name or photo of your counterpart into a search engine - if you get search hits, you can assume that you are not the only email/chat partner.
- Cover your webcam unless you trust the other person. Remember that everything you do on the webcam can be recorded by the other person.
- It often helps to let someone you trust in, they open your eyes and keep you away from harm.
- Don't let yourself be put under pressure. If the other person demands something vehemently or exerts emotional pressure, extreme caution is required.
- If you have transferred money or paid with your credit card, contact your bank quickly; it may still be possible to charge back funds or cancel payments.
- Don't be afraid to report the matter to the police, there are many people affected. It is important that you take the conversations or chat histories and payment documents with you.
The phenomenon of love fraud
“Love scamming” or “romance scamming” is not just a local or Germany-wide phenomenon, but occurs worldwide. But how do I protect myself? How do I recognize scammers?
This is how “love scammers” or “love scammers” or “romance scammers” do it:
- The first contact takes place via social media or dating platforms.
- Most scammers communicate in good English.
- While male love cheaters (scammers) often wear uniforms in pictures, female scammers attract people with an attractive appearance and light clothing.
- Scammers shower their victims with compliments and exuberant expressions of love early on.
An expert tip from Mimikama: When you receive photos, use the reverse image search, for example on Google. The first indications that fraudsters are at work often emerge here.
What to do as a victim?
Do you suspect that you have already been scammed/scammed? This is what you can do:
- IGNORE: Do not accept the request and under no circumstances transfer any money.
- SAVE: Save all emails and chat texts as evidence.
- GET HELP: Report it to the police.
- BLOCK: Break off all contact.
Source: State Police Directorate Burgenland / Austria
Also read:
“Romance scammers”: Beware of “fake” internet flirts. In search of true love, she was cheated out of a lot of money on the Internet.
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

