Deception (social engineering): Private individual, Austria 2022
At the beginning of summer 2022, a man who posed as a well-known string musician contacted the 71-year-old woman via a social network and pretended to be deeply in love with her.
- Incident · 2022 · Upper Austria (complaint filed in Salzburg), Austria
- Evidence: confirmed by an authority
- Deception (social engineering)
- Fraud
As of
What happened
Between the end of June and the end of October, he repeatedly asked her for money, which she transferred. When the demands seemed suspicious to her, she went to the police; the loss amounts to around 56'000 euros.
- Affected
- Private individual (anonymous)
- Industry
- Private individual
- Loss
- around EUR 56'000
- Business interruption
- unknown
- Ransom demanded / paid
- unknown / unknown
- Data affected
- unknown
- Bankruptcy
- no
- Entry point
- Contact via a social network by a supposedly well-known classical musician
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
Celebrities who show both love and financial need online are almost always fakes.
Sources
- Love Scam: Oberösterreicherin verliert 56.000 Euro an falschen berühmten Musiker (Titel sinngemäss nach URL) (opens in a new window) futurezone (Agenturmeldung nach Polizei) · 2022-12-24
«Der Unbekannte täuschte der Oberösterreicherin über soziale Medien die grosse Liebe vor.»