Nasty scam via text message

“Son trick”: 77-year-old transfers thousands of euros

A brazen fraudster has done it again and swindled an elderly lady out of a lot of money. The perpetrator pretended to be her son and tricked the 77-year-old Tyrolean woman into transferring thousands of euros to him.

We cannot warn people often enough: not everyone who calls or texts as a "son" or "daughter" is actually their own offspring. Fraudsters are often behind these scams, using this nasty trick to take money out of their victims' pockets.

Woman made two transfers
This was the experience of a 77-year-old woman from Innsbruck. The pensioner had already received a text message on October 21. The sender pretended to be her son and asked her for money.

Prevention tips from the police

• Never transfer money without checking: Try to contact the person in person.
• Contact the person concerned by calling them back on the telephone number you normally use.
• Do not use the voice call function of the messenger service to contact them by phone.
• Do not make any payments/transfers under any circumstances and consider whether the transfer is plausible for the person concerned (reason for payment, amount, etc.).
• Do not disclose any access data for your bank account.
• Report the sender of the messages to the relevant messenger service and block the phone number.
• If damage has already occurred, file a complaint with the nearest police station.

Unfortunately, the victim believed the fraudster and transferred a low four-digit euro amount twice, as reported by the police. The money is gone and there is no trace of the perpetrator. Investigations are ongoing.