The grift lives on--i.e. individual scams that sting...

Back to the beginnings this week, as this investigator has plodded through 14 days of local, Central European scams—one of which was attempted…

On me.

And while purported against individuals, these are not “little scams,” which is some sense is surprising, as many seem to believe that grifts targeting actual people (instead of companies) tend to be nick-and-dime stuff.

Well…

Maybe compared to million-euro CEO scams, but otherwise...

Nope. Nie.

Just not true.

Because when it's you the pain (and sometimes embarrassment) cuts deep.

First, yet another bank scam. This one is currently with the police, and no, I cannot name details (or the bank), but this case has been shocking from start to finish.

[Edit note--If you are wondering, yes, another Ukrainian War Update is en-route, but the combination of bitter fighting, strikes and counter strikes—and never-ending pressure from Russian forces—means the jury is  out whether or not the Russian summer offensive is truly coming to and end.]S

Now picture this: an individual had a decent amount of savings in a Polish bank. That said, those savings were literally just sitting there, doing nothing, and the individual did not check in, check back or really keep track of the account.

But when she finally did, she was in for a shock. Not only had more than PLN 100,000 been drained from the account, but somehow, unbelievably, a mortgage had been taken out on a property using this individuals personal information (and apparently this same account as collateral). Now, in one of the more bizarre scenarios that this investigator has ever come across, it turns out that the property in question has been sold to yet a new (and it seems, innocent of wrongdoing, owner), yet said transaction somehow went through without the mortgage having been paid.

This one is already with cops and lawyers, but at least at this time the bank appears to be claiming that it is also innocent of wrongdoing (hard to believe, as something obviously went wrong in KYC spheres—and in the entire mortgage and mortgage repayment process)—and if this is not a mess, well, to paraphrase the great Cormac McCarthy, until the mess gets here... it will surely do.

Now a few quick remarks: I’ve commented in the past and even published articles on national web sites noting that there are highly-skilled lawyers gone bad that have learned to play the land registry system in order to legally (technically anyway) scam sellers out of property. This is a real issue (not only in Poland, by the way, as I have seen similar scenarios not only throughout CEE, but also in the US… in California). Yet this may be the first time I have come across the combination of account draining and an illegal land grab at the same time.

Now what do I really think? This was either (at least partially) an inside job or an outrageous KYC failing. On a side note, recently I took a small amount of cash out of a bank but had issues signing my signature properly enough for the teller. (Old hands are old hands). In the end, they gave me the cash anyway.

Which was good. But I admit… also quite troubling.

Scam No. 2…

Standard fare here--yet people fall for it again and again, and again I received a call from a victim, but this time it is probably too late.

The scam went as follows: the victim received a phone notification noting that a package had been delivered by a reputable service. Yet there was an obvious tell, this being a link back to the delivery “site,” which included requests to “re-fill out” personal information—which the victim obviously should have ignored.

Bear in mind that this victim is not an idiot. She is perhaps a bit too task saturated, but needless to say… she orders a lot on-line, and perhaps thanks to a planned vacation and the need for a variety of scuba goods… she fell for it.

And it cost her approximately PLN 10,000.

Undoubtedly, this will be a hard lesson learned. Banks put a great deal of effort into warning clients off phishing scams. And even when the bank is in the wrong, it’s not as if you just call up and immediately receive compensation. Moreover, while police are becoming more and more effective in tracking down sting rings, these are time-consuming efforts and even when successful the simple fact is that jail time for criminals does not mean that lost money will be coming back your way.

And on a side note, a second contact of mine was in similar fashion recently burned on a too-good-to-be true online deal, and at about the same time that he realized he was not going to receive what he had bought (furniture) he realized his account had been skimmed.

Put simply, don’t “fill out” links with private information. In fact, do not even open links on your phone if they have been sent from delivery services (some may be viruses that scan your phone for private information whether or not you follow the link further). And I you do attempt buy used products on line, check for the safe-lock icon at the top of the screen, no matter the payment option you choose. True, there could be a legitimate small-business owner who is running a sell-direct website—and true, he may not have understood or used an IT provider who used a properly secure HTTPS encryption setup and SSL/TTS, but even if he’s honest… he (and you) are open to be hacked.

Which means a hard pass on whatever it is you are looking to buy, whether you like it or not.

(Also note that the appearance of a proper HTTPS and the “little lock” also does not mean the sale is safe and there is no scammer behind it, but at least it’s a start).

Scam No. 3…

Maybe this was actually not a scam… or maybe it was. But this was one that appeared to target… moi. The scenario was as follows: a bonnie lass discovered that there were no power outlets on a Polish train. She asked me if there were any outlets (and I confess, I had just gotten over the flu, was semi-exhausted, unshaven and did appear to be a bit of a little old man), and I explained like the good local I am that, no, there are not power outlets, and that yes, as terrifying as it may seem, you will have to live without your phone until we reach Warsaw.

The girl then asked about my computer. I actually misunderstood, I think, and I simply told her that (Generation X that I am) I had powered up ahead of time.

Flash forward by 15 minutes, and the scenario happened yet again, but this time a tall, rather aggressive young foreigner made the same approach. Yet this time around I was asked if I would allow him to connect to my laptop and power up from there.

To be honest, I was still so under the weather that at first it did not occur to me what was up. But my grumpy inner self came to the rescue, which resulted in a dismissive eye roll… which still was not enough. Hey, this guy was aggressive. But hey, I can also be aggressive, and when I put my laptop aside and stood up to get in his face, I backed off.

Whatever, I thought.  Entitled foreign millennials.

But some time later… my spidey sense (or call it my natural cynicism) kicked in—because again I saw the bonnie lass who first approached me, and she seemed to be trailing the young man. And both had their power cables still out and dangling.

This made no sense. By now they would know that indeed the train was full absence of power outlets.

Ah, but something was curiously amiss.

I rose and meandered the train compartments. The pair were nowhere to be found (and I did spend a bit of time looking for somewhere, anywhere, to buy a cup of coffee) until I made my way back. At which time I saw both leaving a compartment power chords dangling. This happened at the very moment that we were pulling into Malbork, Poland.

When I reached that particular compartment I found an elderly man and woman with an open laptop. I asked if the two had powered up using that laptop. Yep. I glanced back to see the young pair was already on the platform. Gone, baby, gone.

Now maybe this was all innocent. I can see that. Still, I spoke to the elderly couple, and after they confirmed that the young man had powered up using their laptop (over maybe 20 minutes), I explained that his is a security risk. They didn’t want to hear about it. I even showed them my private detective license.

They still did not want to hear about it.

Oh well. I hope this was just a pair of millennials desperate to get a cell phone working. Maybe that was the case.

But as a rule… never allow this. Like never. Ever. Ever.

Ever.