In the last six months, the Bjelovar-Bilogora Police Administration has reported two cases of fraud against women in Croatia, aged about 60, by unknown perpetrators, by using false Facebook profiles, representing themselves as US soldiers serving somewhere in the world, reports Index.hr on January 4, 2019.
In both cases, the perpetrators started communication with the women, sending them pictures of themselves in military uniforms, claiming they had a large amount of money to share. In both cases, they said they had a large amount of money they did not have anywhere to keep and said they wanted to send the money somewhere to avoid paying the tax. They suggested to the women they would send them a large amount of cash in packages.
In both cases, the unidentified perpetrators mislead the women by stating they were required to pay a certain amount of money so that the packages could be sent at all. They provided bank accounts to which they paid the money.
After paying the initial amount, the first woman refused to continue with the payments, although the perpetrator said that she ought to pay more money because he was allegedly robbed and could not pay what was needed.
The second woman received a message that the customs in London had confiscated the package and that she had to pay more, which she did. After that, she had more messages asking her to make additional payments. After she refused, the unknown perpetrator blocked her on Facebook.
The first woman paid about 8,000 kuna, while the other paid as much as 180,000 kuna.
Both cases involved elderly retired women living alone, and in both cases, the perpetrators promised women they would come to visit them in Croatia.
Elderly citizens should be warned that in both cases the profiles were fake. They are easy to be created since American soldiers’ pictures are readily available on the Internet.
The criminal investigation of both criminal offenses is still ongoing.
More news about crime in Croatia can be found in our Lifestyle section.
Translated from Index.hr.
