An 80-year-old pensioner felt lonely - when he replies to a personal ad, he hopes to have won the big prize. But in the end he only paid for it.
- Pensioners hope for love of life - thanks to personal ad.
- In the end he was ripped off.
- Now he is fighting back with the help of the consumer advice center.
Broken hearts - and empty bank accounts: So-called "romance scamers" first promise their victims great love - and then exploit them mercilessly. It was the same with Klaus Schäfer from Breitungen in Thuringia. The 80-year-old also fell victim to a perfidious "love trap" on the Internet. "I have been a widower for years, now I am looking for a woman again. After all, I live alone in a nice big house," the pensioner justifies to Bild Online.
Pensioner falls into (love) trap - ripped off by contact ad
In an advertisement he finally noticed a classified ad: " Helga, 76, widowed doctor, slim and efficient in the garden ", it said. The ad was also provided with a telephone number *. And: "Are you also so lonely?" Recalls Schäfer. He picked up the phone, but at the other end of the line was not Helga , but a dating agency called "Julie Freizeitglück" from Cottbus.
Also interesting : woman (60) falls out of all clouds - when she learns how much pension she will receive later .
A short time later an employee visited him at home and asked him * what type of woman he was looking for. The pensioner finally paid a whopping 3,600 euros for the advice - by direct debit . " Then came suggestions that were all of no use, " said Schäfer. Among them is a woman over 80 years old who had a stroke and did not want to leave her apartment, he recalls. No trace of the promised Helga.
Find out here : Pensioners lose their house - just because they owe the tax office eight euros.
Consumer advice center now warns of fraud
Finally, the 80-year-old suspected that he was probably caught in a (love) trap . "If I had known what stupidity I am committing, I would never have called there," he told Bild Online. Finally , he informed the Thuringia consumer center about the incident .
It now warns of the scam - but the ads often fizzle out, according to legal expert Ralf Reichertz. "You won't see money already paid again *", he concludes.
Read also : You only get a pension of 1,000 euros? You can indulge in luxury at these five locations.
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Ripped off: The worst cases of the consumer advice center
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