Scammers defraud two people and company of 24,300 euros

Scammers defrauded two people and a company of about 24,300 euros in separate incidents, LRT reported, citing police.

A man born in 1968 told police that after finding an online advertisement for investment services on May 15, he was contacted by unknown people by phone. The callers, who spoke Russian, persuaded him to invest through an online investment platform and fraudulently obtained 13,400 euros from him.

In the Mažeikiai district, a company transferred 7,590 euros to a seller’s bank account on December 11 last year to buy a 2015 Kubota KX016-4 mini excavator advertised online. The company did not receive the excavator, and the money was not returned.

A woman born in 1963 reported that she received an SMS message on July 25 containing a link but no phone number. After clicking it, she was redirected to a fake website. She entered her login details, after which 3,350 euros was withdrawn from her bank account.

Pretrial investigations have been opened on suspicion of fraud.

Police in Vilnius also reported the theft of 7,000 euros from an elderly woman. An unknown woman entered the apartment of a resident born in 1936 on Viršuliškės Street on Wednesday morning, claiming that she had brought her pension.

The visitor asked the woman to look for change. When the apartment owner brought out her savings and began searching for it, the unknown woman grabbed all the money and left. Police have opened a theft investigation.