Phone and internet scams defraud two men in Carinthia

Two men from the Wolfsberg district have fallen victim to separate scams involving phone calls and the internet, ORF reported. A 63-year-old man was targeted by the so-called son scam, while a 20-year-old was persuaded over the phone to authorise transactions from his bank account.

The 20-year-old received a text message on Wednesday that appeared to be a notification from FinanzOnline, the tax authority. After clicking a link, he updated his personal details.

That evening, a caller claiming to work for his bank told him that unauthorised amounts had been withdrawn from his account. The caller said the money could be recovered if the man made transfers. The scam caused him a loss of several tens of thousands of euros.

The 63-year-old Wolfsberg resident also received a text message on Wednesday. The sender claimed to be his son and asked him to make contact through a messaging service. Believing the message was a genuine request for help, the man was told that his supposed son needed money urgently for a payment.

He transferred several thousand euros to the unknown recipient. When he later went to the bank to transfer a further low four-figure amount, staff alerted him to the fraud.