A young resident of Białystok (Podlaskie) lost nearly 100 thousand złoty when she wanted to invest her savings using artificial intelligence and was manipulated by fraudsters who gave them access to her account. The criminals stole her savings and took out loans using her data.
A month ago, a 34-year-old resident of Białystok became interested in an ad on social media. It encouraged people to invest their savings using artificial intelligence. She used the link attached to the ad and registered on the website to which she was redirected, the Podlasie police press team reported on Tuesday.
First a woman called, then a man
She received a call from a woman who introduced herself as a consultant for this investment platform. She recommended a deposit of $200 so that she could start investing. The 34-year-old transferred the money. Then a man calling her, posing as a financial analyst, called her. A few days later, the woman from Białystok learned that she already had twice the profit of her initial deposit.
Since she wanted to withdraw some of the money she had earned, about PLN 400 was transferred to her account from a private person's account. The criminals continued to contact her every few days and eventually presented a proposal for what they called an arbitration contract.
She opened the link and entered the data, she lost 100 thousand PLN
“Wanting to make more money, the woman received a link on the messenger, which she opened and entered the data needed to log into her bank account,” the police reported. At that time, the 34-year-old was also informed that PLN 40,000 had been transferred to her account. However, it turned out that – having access to her bank account – the criminals, instead of depositing the money, withdrew the Białystok woman's savings and took out loans. In total, before she realized that she had been a victim of fraud and notified the police – she lost almost PLN 100,000.
Police appeal for caution
The police are still appealing for caution when making financial decisions and reminding to apply the principle of limited trust both in the real world and on the Internet. They are reminding us of the methods used by fraudsters who, among other things, refer to fake websites that extort bank account data or – posing as consultants – encourage us to install applications such as Any Desk, which allow illegal access to accounts.
He lost all his money
Recently, a resident of the Bielsk Podlaski area lost a total of over PLN 100,000 in this way. The 52-year-old wanted to invest through an online platform, logged in there and, at the instigation of criminals, installed software on his phone to remotely operate the device. First, he deposited PLN 800 into an investment account. When he saw the first profits, at the instigation of the alleged consultant, he deposited another PLN 100,000. He lost all this money.
Main image source: Podlasie Police