Deception (social engineering): Private individual, Austria 2021
From May 2021, an online friendship developed via Facebook with a supposed US general.
- Incident · 2021 · Salzburg (Flachgau), Austria
- Evidence: confirmed by an authority
- Deception (social engineering)
- Fraud
As of
What happened
With stories about retirement, a transfer to Iraq, plane tickets and a hospital stay, he got the woman to make several transfers to an Italian account over several months. In total she lost around 100'000 euros.
- Affected
- Private individual (anonymous)
- Industry
- Private individual
- Loss
- around EUR 100'000
- Business interruption
- unknown
- Ransom demanded / paid
- unknown / unknown
- Data affected
- unknown
- Bankruptcy
- no
- Entry point
- Contact via Facebook with a supposed four-star general of the US Army
What would cyber insurance have paid?
That depends on the terms. Whether those affected were insured: unknown.
We have not assigned any cyber insurance module to this case.
Overview based on public policy terms, as of 06.11.2026. Only your policy and its general terms and conditions (GTC) are binding. No confirmation of cover.
What we can learn
Someone you have never met online who asks for money is very probably a fraudster; a quick internet search would have exposed the false identity.
Sources
- Love Scam: Flachgauerin verliert 100.000 Euro (opens in a new window) Salzburg24 (APA) · 2021-08-25