Scammers trick Vilnius residents and Klaipėda company out of over €130,000

Fraudsters have swindled more than €130,000 from two Vilnius residents and a Klaipėda-based company, Lithuania’s Police Department reported on Thursday, as cited by public broadcaster LRT.

In one incident, an 82-year-old woman reported to police on Wednesday that unknown Russian-speaking callers, posing as employees of a telecommunications company, bank staff, and police officers, defrauded her of €14,000 on March 31 in her Vilnius home.

Separately, a man and a woman notified authorities that between March 12 and April 1, scammers impersonating utility service workers and police tricked them into transferring €2,000 and handing over bank cards, from which an additional €32,000 was stolen.

In Klaipėda, a company director filed a report after receiving a fraudulent email on March 31, purportedly from payment service provider Paysera, instructing him to confirm account details via a link. After entering login credentials, nearly €85,000 was unlawfully withdrawn from the company’s bank account.

Preliminary investigations have been launched in all cases.