Scammers defraud Lithuanian residents of nearly 123,200 euros

Scammers have fraudulently taken nearly 123,200 euros from Lithuanian residents, LRT reports, citing police data.

A man born in 1960 told the Dainava police station in Kaunas on Wednesday that he had joined a WhatsApp group through an invitation link on December 4 last year. The group promoted investments in certain shares. On February 12, unidentified people allegedly persuaded him to invest through the Freedom24 investment platform, taking 80,400 euros from him.

Panevėžys County police said a man born in 1982 received a text message with a link on Sunday at around 2:43 p.m. After he clicked on it, money was withdrawn from his bank account. His loss was nearly 9,790 euros.

Residents of Šiauliai County were also among those affected. On August 22, a resident of Raseiniai received an SMS message about an alleged fine. After activating the link and entering his bank login details, he lost 5,000 euros.

Police in Šiauliai County also received a complaint from a woman born in 1997, who said that a relative born in 1965 had not returned 28,000 euros from the sale of an apartment last year, despite being authorised to handle the transaction before a notary.

Pretrial investigations into suspected fraud have been opened.