Debrecen police investigated a Budapest man for 25 counts of fraud.
The 44-year-old man’s main scheme was advertising properties and rental apartments online. All of the advertisements had one thing in common: in reality, he had no connection whatsoever to any of the properties.
He posted advertisements for accommodation around Lake Balaton on social media, and interested customers regularly transferred advance payments to him. Many victims only realized they had been deceived when they arrived at the provided address and could not find the accommodation they had booked.
Whenever the fraudster needed money, he stopped at nothing. He even repeatedly put his girlfriend’s apartment up for rent, despite the fact that they were living there together. When his partner was away, he showed the apartment to prospective tenants, drew up rental agreements if necessary, and, of course, collected the security deposits.
He primarily advertised rental apartments and summer accommodations, but occasionally offered IT equipment for sale as well. In every case, however, he remained reachable only until he received the money.
Between 2023 and 2024, the Budapest man defrauded his victims of approximately 4 million forints.
The Criminal Investigation Division of the Debrecen Police Department questioned him as a suspect on 25 counts of fraud and 13 counts of using forged private documents. Investigators have completed the case and forwarded the files to the prosecution service.
