As of: March 27, 2024, 1:32 p.m
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The married folk music duo Marianne and Michael fell victim to a nasty scam.
They probably won't get the money they lost back.
Baldham - The popular hit duo Marianne (71) and Michael (75) are currently on a farewell tour.
They will delight their fans one last time in several places with their musical life's work, then the couple wants to retire and, among other things, dedicate themselves to their own magazine called “Marianne & Michael - Die Illustrierte”.
In the newly published paper, the folk music stars now reveal that they were victims of a nasty scam.
Marianne and Michael fell for fraud with fake invoices
As express.de reports, the deception occurred in the summer of 2023, in which Marianne and Michael lost money that they probably will not get back.
The hit couple, who still have numerous plans, have commissioned a company through their property management company to fell trees in their garden.
The property management then received an invoice electronically, which they forwarded to Marianne Hartl: “And I paid immediately.”
There was a note at the bottom of the invoice that the new account details should be taken into account.
So far nothing unusual - but four months later a letter came from the contracted company stating that payment for the tree felling work was still outstanding.
“That really worried and burdened me,” says Marianne.
Marianne and Michael: “We are decent people, we pay our bills”
As it later emerged, fraudsters had apparently hacked into the company's system and sent a fake invoice in which they had replaced the company's account number with their own.
And Marianne Hartl had unsuspectingly transferred the money to the fraudsters.
“We went to the police with the fake invoice.
The whole thing is currently in limbo,” reports Marianne.
Marianne and Michael Hartl during the ARD entertainment show Always Again on Sundays (symbolic image).
© Imago
But there is apparently not much hope of getting the money back, as the bank made it clear to the hit couple.
“We are decent people, we pay our bills,” said the 71-year-old, annoyed that she had fallen for the scammers.
She has now changed all the passwords for her online accounts and is even more careful with transfers than before.
The two of them have also been through a lot in terms of their health: Michael Hartl experienced his stroke.
(cso)
Sources used:
express.de, n-tv.de