The Orahovica Police Station has filed a criminal complaint against an unknown perpetrator, and the Virovitica-Podravina Police Department warns citizens about increasingly common online scams.
A total of €120,000-that is the amount that scammers, using false promises of lucrative cryptocurrency investments, managed to extract in several steps from a 75-year-old man in the Orahovica area. Realizing he had fallen for a sophisticated financial scam, he reported the case to the police.
It all started in mid-July 2026, when the victim responded to an advertisement for cryptocurrency trading. He was soon contacted by someone posing as a broker who requested his bank card details, and an initial €200 was immediately deducted from his account-a mere prelude to far greater losses.
Shortly after, a second individual contacted the victim, this time posing as an employee of an investment management firm. He convinced the 75-year-old that his money was generating exceptional returns and persuaded him to continue making payments, promising quick and easy profits.
The scammers then took an unusual step: on two occasions, an unknown man came to the victim's home address in Orahovica, and the victim personally handed over a total of €80,000 in cash. For each handover, he received fake receipts for the money, documents that gave him a false sense of security.
The remainder of the amount, approximately €40,000, was transferred by the 75-year-old to bank accounts. The fake company representatives convinced him that this was to cover fictitious tax and fee costs, supposedly necessary for his accumulated profits to be paid out. However, the promised earnings never arrived in his account.
The victim reported the incident to the Orahovica Police Station, which filed a criminal complaint against an unknown perpetrator on suspicion of fraud. The Virovitica-Podravina Police Department confirmed that police officers are conducting a criminal investigation and will submit a special report to the competent state attorney's office.
In light of this case, the police also issued a series of advice to citizens, particularly warning them to be cautious when investing in cryptocurrencies and recommending that they avoid any payments to unverified individuals and platforms. "Do not trust unknown people who contact you by phone or online and offer quick profits. Be cautious if someone pressures you into urgent payments," the police said, reminding citizens never to share personal and financial information with unverified sources and to always thoroughly check the credibility of a platform before deciding to invest money. If you suspect fraud, contact your nearest police station immediately.
