Password cracked

Tyrolean woman suddenly suspected of fraud after hacker attack

Criminals took money out of a saleswoman's pocket on an online advertising portal in the name of a 39-year-old Tyrolean woman. But she was a victim herself.

Magdalena Mair (name changed by the editors) was sitting comfortably with a cup of coffee a few weeks ago when suddenly her phone rang - the police on the other end! The 39-year-old from the Tyrolean lowlands and her husband were suspected of being brazen online fraudsters.

Two accounts cracked after carelessness
"I didn't know my way around at first and thought there had been a mix-up," said the Tyrolean woman, her heart sinking for a moment. Fortunately, the matter quickly cleared up. Because she was able to prove that she herself had been a victim of cyber criminals. Six months ago, unknown persons hacked Mair's account for a streaming platform. "I received several scam emails, but always deleted them straight away. But I didn't really look at one message," recalls the 39-year-old.

I didn't look properly at one scam email.

Die 39-jährige Tirolerin

However, the Tyrolean only realized that the crooks had also hacked her account on the resale platform "Willhaben" after the investigators called. "A saleswoman was then ripped off by the strangers in my name," Mair learned. Her husband was targeted by the police because his cell phone number appeared on "Willhaben".

Same password used for different accounts
Today, the 39-year-old knows that she made a mistake that many people make. "I used a single password for different accounts." This makes it easy for fraudsters on the internet to defraud gullible people of their money.