Story By: Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
Czech cops are hunting for a suspected fraudster who introduced himself as an American airline pilot to allegedly scam a woman out of 3,500 USD in a case compared with the story of “Catch Me If You Can”.
Local media report the scammer had introduced himself to an unnamed Czech woman from Prague as American pilot James Greg online, with the pair exchanging messages and video calls.
The man then proposed travelling to Prague to meet the woman in person, reportedly asking her to loan him 1,000 EUR (856 GBP) for the trip.
On the day of his supposed arrival, the woman reportedly waited at the airport for three hours but the man never showed up.
Just before she was about to leave she reportedly received a phone call from a man claiming to be a Ukrainian police officer saying James had been detained for irregularities with his travel documents.
The alleged cop is said to have asked the woman to post 2,500 USD (2,141 GBP) in bail for him to be released from Ukraine.
The woman immediately paid the amount but her internet lover never showed up.
The woman then reported the case to the police and an investigation was launched.
However, two months later no suspects have been named and the Czech Police sent a statement to Central European News (CEN) about the case stating: “The case is still under investigation and the perpetrator has not yet been caught.”
If found and convicted, suspects in criminal fraud cases in the Czech Republic can be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
The man the hit film ‘Catch Me If You Can’ was based on, Frank Abagnale, who was played in the film by Leonardo Di Caprio, now works as a private consultant, author and public speaker with the goal of preventing fraud.
In an interview this week he stated: “What I did 50 years ago is 4,000 times easier to do today.”
He recently released a book entitled ‘Scam Me If You Can’ and when asked about romance scamming, he said: “When they do a romance scam, for example, which have doubled in the last couple of years, they basically have 12 or 15 people that they’re romance scamming.
“When doing the research for this book for five years, I found that millennials actually got scammed more than seniors, but seniors lost a lot more money because they have more money.”
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