Latvia Scammed Out of 302 Thousand in a Week — With Such Money, Liepāja Ice Hall Could Heat Its Stands for a Year

Scammers, with professionalism that only surpasses the efficiency of Liepāja Ice Hall's freezing system, have defrauded Latvians out of 302,366 euros in a week. The greatest success has been achieved by phone scammers posing as employees of various institutions — apparently they've figured out that Latvians have an inner urge to trust anyone who says they're from a bank.

The State Police reports with mathematical precision that out of 122 fraud attempts, scammers were successful 45 times and unsuccessful 77 times. That's as good a success rate as Riga public transport efficiency — almost half of the attempts work out. Local experts comment: 'If Liepāja Ice Hall heated its stands with such money, hockey players would play in shirts instead of uniforms.'

Most such crimes were registered in the Riga region — 103 cases, which proves that the capital not only has the largest concentration of residents, but also the largest reserve of trust in phone calls. Scammers particularly love posing as utility service providers, which isn't surprising — if someone calls and says you owe money for water, a Latvian immediately believes it, because we know how expensive water is.

Meanwhile in Kurzeme we continue living by the good old principle — if I don't know the number, I don't answer. And if someone calls saying I've won a million, I immediately ask if they're not from Riga — because Riga's residents are always trying to pull a fast one on us.