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Austria Now News – Tyrol
Two women in the province of Tyrol, aged 58 and 61, have each lost a five-figure sum in euros to online scammers. The two separate cases, announced by police on Sunday, reveal two common schemes people should be wary of.
Fake actor demands money to stay in touch
According to police, the 61-year-old woman from Pflach in the Reutte district had been exchanging messages since the end of January with a man who claimed to be a well-known actor. He repeatedly asked her to transfer money so that their contact could continue. She complied and transferred money in several instalments until the total reached a high five-figure sum.
Video upload link steals bank details
The 58-year-old woman from Zirl in the Innsbruck-Land district was contacted by unknown persons on Saturday when she wanted to sell clothes on an online platform. After a sales conversation via a messaging app, she uploaded a video of the clothes through a link sent by the scammers, but this link was used to steal her data, police said.
When she later received several confirmation requests from her bank for money transfers, she approved them, believing the bank had made an error. She eventually discovered that a mid five-figure sum had disappeared from her account.
How to protect yourself
The two cases show how important it is not to transfer money to people you have never met in person, however convincing the story may seem, and not to open links sent by unknown buyers or sellers via messaging apps. You should also never confirm a transfer request in your banking app that you did not initiate yourself, contact your bank immediately via its official number, and report any suspected fraud to the police.
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Sources
- ORF Tirol, Tirolerinnen verloren Geld an Onlinebetrüger, 01.11.2026, tirol.orf.at
