A senior man from a village near Prostějov in the Olomouc region got tricked with an email scam promising a generous donation. Instead of the gift, he lost 27,000 CZK (1,025 EUR).
According to the Tydenik Policie, the man received an email telling him that he received a gift worth $300,000. He then contacted the sender who turned out to be located in the United States. The sender informed him that he must first pay 1018 EUR to receive the transfer code for the gift.
The man transferred the money but, predictably, the gift never arrived. The man then contacted the police and they opened a case for the suspicion of fraud.
“Despite the fact that the police still warn of unfair fraudulent emails, the aim of which is to lure money from the addressed persons, the perpetrator was successful and the victim sent the money,” police spokeswoman Miluše Zajícová told Práva, Novinky.cz reports.
The reports of fraud are becoming increasingly worrying – according to Helpnet Security, the first four months of 2020 saw a 20% increase in the cyberattack frequency. The problem became so worrying that in the same period, “26.5% of all transactions were fraud and abuse attempts”. You can find the most popular list of internet scams in 2020 and how to avoid them here.
