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Pensioner hands over half a million crowns to scammers — even after her bank flagged the payment as suspicious

Pensioner hands over half a million crowns to scammers — even after her bank flagged the payment as suspicious
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An elderly woman in Czechia has become the latest victim of investment fraud, handing over a substantial sum of money to scammers even after her bank warned her the transaction looked suspicious. According to police, the total damage came to roughly half a million crowns.

The scheme began when the woman responded to an online advertisement promising a lucrative investment opportunity and left her personal details and phone number on the website. Soon after, a so-called "financial advisor" contacted her and, following the usual script for such scams, convinced her to make an initial deposit of 25,000 crowns, said police spokesperson Jaroslav Herzán.

Once the fraudster realized the victim could be manipulated, he began demanding ever larger transfers, promising her hefty investment returns. At one point, her bank blocked a payment of 100,000 crowns, flagging it as a suspected fraudulent transaction.

Yet even that warning didn't stop the pensioner. Acting on the "advisor's" instructions, she kept trying until the transfers finally went through — she herself authorized them in the banking app. In the end, she lost a significant portion of her savings.

Police are now searching for the perpetrator; if caught and convicted, he faces up to eight years in prison.

"Don't let yourself be fooled online, and be wary of investment offers that sound too good to be true. We recommend investing only through your own bank or a verified investment platform, or seeking advice from family members," the police spokesperson stressed.

Authorities note that complaints about such schemes have flooded in over the past few months, with fraudsters relying on the same well-worn tactics to win victims' trust and extract money. Police also warn of cases in which scammers disguise fake investment advice as content from well-known news outlets, copying their design and logos — even though the real media organizations have nothing to do with these schemes.

Read also: Sending money from Czechia abroad: Wise, Revolut, bank transfers

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz

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