A woman from Petrich lost 43,000 euros in an online scam

Another case of online financial fraud has been reported. A woman from Petrich came across an advertisement on a social media platform claiming she could win a significant amount of money by engaging in financial transactions. However, instead of receiving money, she lost approximately 43,000 euros, which she transferred in several installments to the bogus financial analysts.

Vera Mamadzhanova decided to trust the online advertisement and contacted a representative from the company, who claimed that their headquarters were in the United Kingdom. Initially, she was asked to transfer 150 euros to set up an account.

"I worked without transferring the other money, but when I learned I had made one wrong transaction, they told me that in order not to lose the money I had already earned—18,000 dollars—I had to transfer 5,000 euros to continue working. Then, they told me to transfer another 5,000, after which I earned 42,800 euros," Vera Mamadzhanova said.

Vera’s profits reached nearly 76,000 euros, which she wanted to withdraw. However, in order to do so, they began asking for more money.

"During the entire period, I transferred 43,600 euros. When I asked for documents explaining each transfer, they provided nothing. The only thing they gave me was a reference number, a document allowing me to work with transactions in currencies such as gold and silver. It turned out to be a classic scam," Vera Mamaddhanova explained.

"At the beginning, they give you something, and you see that you are actually receiving some funds. You believe in it, and after spending a few months completing the tasks they assigned, you thought you had accumulated some earnings. At that moment, when you are convinced of this, they take advantage of you by saying 'you need to pay extra to get your money,'" explained Lyubomir Tulev, a cybersecurity expert.

"This type of trading on an unregulated market is governed by specific regulations. When we receive such business offers online promising high, quick profits, the red flag should ebe spotted, as something is clearly wrong. Such businesses operate on regulated platforms with a pre-existing contract with a company licensed to conduct transactions in financial markets," emphasised Teodor Toshev, a lawyer.

The woman who was scammed has filed a report with the cyber police and the prosecutor’s office.