Classified Advertisement Fraud – Asylum Seeker Exposed as an Internet Fraudster by Kurtz Investigations Berlin

Mr J., the client of Kurtz Detective Agency Berlin, was less concerned about the financial loss of just over €1,000 than about “finally putting a stop to people like this” when he contacted our Berlin private investigators.

Our client had discovered a high-quality electronic device on eBay Classifieds, arranged the purchase with the seller by telephone and email and subsequently transferred the full purchase price. On the telephone the seller had made an intelligent and friendly impression. Despite a foreign accent, his German had been good. The advertisement itself appeared reputable: a convincing private photograph of the device (not an official product image), a physical address and an active telephone number. In the email correspondence the seller even offered the client of our Berlin detectives the possibility of personally inspecting the device at the stated address and taking it away immediately. However, Mr J. lives in Duisburg.

The purchase contract had been legally concluded through the mutual verbal and written (emails) declarations of consent by both parties to finalise the transaction under the agreed conditions. A formal written contract is not required for this. Despite the convincing advertisement and the positive contact with the seller, the promised and paid-for device never arrived at Mr J.’s address. Further attempts to contact the “seller” remained unanswered, and so Mr J. turned to the private investigators of Kurtz Investigations Berlin for assistance.

Upon arrival, our private investigator asks the responsible security officer to check whether the target person is currently staying at this accommodation. The employee agrees and disappears into an office. A few minutes later his colleague returns and asks our Berlin detective to leave the building. This behaviour is suspicious and suggests that the investigator of Kurtz Detective Agency Berlin has most likely arrived at the correct address.

Fortunately, the management of Kurtz Investigations Berlin maintains very good contacts with the management of the security company responsible for this facility. Consequently, the employee who had asked our investigator to leave the building receives instructions “from above” only a few minutes later to provide us with the requested information: the target person is indeed living in this asylum accommodation, which means the address has now been confirmed.

A personal confrontation with the target person in order to seek a diplomatic solution does not appear advisable in light of the information about the previous physical attack on a security officer. It is highly unlikely that such an approach would lead to a resolution; instead, the target person would be warned and might attempt to disappear.

The client of Kurtz Detective Agency Berlin can now provide the police, when filing his report, not only with the name and bank details but also with the current residential address of the target person. Further clarification must now proceed through legal channels, and Kurtz Investigations Berlin is pleased to refer Mr J. to a trusted specialist lawyer with whom the agency has already worked successfully on many occasions and who is known for resolving cases swiftly through expedited proceedings. Speed is essential: if the target person were to be deported, it would become extremely difficult to recover the owed amount. According to information from the bank, the account to which Mr J. had transferred the money had already been frozen immediately after the transfer.

Kurtz Investigations Berlin would like to thank the three security companies involved for their cooperation.