Schemos analizė: kaip sukčiai senjorę privertė parduoti butą ir išviliojo 114 tūkst. eurų

An 81-year-old woman in Vilnius was tricked into selling her apartment and handing over €114,000 to scammers, LRT reports.

Olegas Bigbajevas, head of the Second Division of the Criminal Police Property Crime Investigation Board at the Vilnius County Chief Police Commissariat, said such fraud schemes have remained unchanged since 2006. He noted that scammers now pose as representatives of Google, banks, the State Tax Inspectorate, the Social Insurance Board (Sodra), medical workers, or police officers.

In this case, the scammers initially contacted the elderly woman pretending to be telecommunications representatives, warning her about losing her phone number. Over time, they manipulated her into selling her apartment through legal means, involving a notary and a broker. The fraudsters then convinced her to withdraw the cash from the sale, claiming it was necessary to return the apartment. A courier, part of the criminal group, collected the money.

Bigbajevas explained that scammers prefer cash transactions because they are harder to trace. Once the money is handed over, recovery is nearly impossible unless caught immediately.

Eglė Juozapavičienė, chair of the Union of Local Community Organizations, emphasized that while public education on fraud prevention is active, such incidents still occur. She stressed the importance of personal responsibility and critical thinking, noting that people often fall victim due to a lack of close social connections and trust in their immediate community.

Experts advise that businesses and institutions continue to provide clear warnings and contact numbers for reporting suspicious activity, but individuals must also remain vigilant.