Posing as "a surgeon with the U.N. mission in Yemen, a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan, or a miner on an oil platform," the scammers targeted Czech women who publicly identified themselves as "single" or "divorced" on social networks.
They would initiate correspondence, using heartwarming tales from distant regions and claiming to possess money they couldn't access at the moment, in order to entice the victims into meeting them in person.
The victims would often succumb to the words of love and wire the money for the journey to the scammers, expecting a face-to-face encounter that would never occur.
According to Czech investigators, the group amassed over 1.5 Czech Koruna (US$67,820) by exploiting the vulnerability of women who were willing to respond to their fraudulent plea for support.
The Financial Analysis Office received reports of potential illegal activities around the end of October 2022, leading to an investigation that uncovered the fraudsters' scheme. It was discovered that they would use a portion of the money within Czechia while transferring the rest to bank accounts in other countries.
Upon receiving the funds, the student fraudsters attempted to obscure the money's origin, making it significantly more challenging or even impossible to trace, as confirmed by the police.
If convicted, the scammers could face imprisonment ranging from two to eight years, in accordance with Czech laws.