Vienna police have released photos and information about a suspected rip-deal fraudster. The 37-year-old is accused of stealing 40 bitcoins from a businessman from western Austria in 2022. At the time, the bitcoins were worth around €815,000—today they are worth approximately €4 million. The Association of Friends of the Vienna Police has offered a €3,000 reward for information leading to the suspect’s capture, investigators told the media on Thursday.
The Serbian national allegedly posed as an Israeli-Luxembourgish investor and contacted the Austrian businessman, who had been seeking capital for real estate expansion projects in eastern Austria via a crowdfunding platform in August 2022, according to Valentin Szaga-Doktor of the Vienna Rip-Deal Unit. After weeks of contact, the two met—first in Málaga, Spain, then in Paris. The alleged fraudster claimed he intended to invest €80 million, and that the transaction would be handled using cryptocurrency.
Crypto Wallet Access Secretly Captured
In classic rip-deals, criminals pretend to be wealthy buyers or investors, claiming they want to purchase luxury items like watches, cars, real estate, or gold. They build trust by inviting victims abroad and win them over with expensive hotels and restaurants. According to Vienna police, most perpetrators belong to organized crime clans from the Western Balkans. Victims are then paid with counterfeit money—or simply robbed. Gerald Goldnagl, head inspector of the Vienna Rip-Deal Unit, called it “the supreme discipline of fraud.”
Today, however, the crime has evolved into “Rip-Deals 2.0,” where scammers spy on victims’ access to crypto wallets. That’s exactly what happened in this case: At a luxury restaurant in Paris, the victim and a supposed nephew of the “investor” set up a new crypto wallet. During that process, the alleged scammers managed to secretly obtain access credentials. Once back in Austria, the businessman was asked to deposit 40 bitcoins into the wallet to “prove capital.” Although he ordered a reversal right afterward, the suspect managed to steal the bitcoins.
€3,000 Reward Offered
The victim reported the crime in Salzburg. Parallel investigations by the Rip-Deal Unit and a similar case in Portugal led officers to a criminal clan with branches in France, Germany, and Austria. In Operation MEDE 2, the Vienna unit—working with Europol, Austria’s Federal Criminal Police Office, Germany’s BKA Wiesbaden, the Salzburg City Police, and French and Spanish investigators—was able to identify the 37-year-old suspect.
Tips, including anonymous ones, are being accepted by the Vienna State Criminal Police, Eastern Branch, Rip-Deal Unit Vienna, at +43 1 31310 62510. A €3,000 reward has been offered by the Association of Friends of the Vienna Police.
Fraud Moves Into the Digital World
The Rip-Deal Unit Vienna was established in May 2020 to investigate fraudulent investment schemes in the capital and across Austria and Europe. Since 2020, it has handled more than 100 domestic cases with an 80% clearance rate. Internationally, it has supported foreign agencies in 131 cases, identifying 180 suspects. The unit’s mission is to combat organized crime, uncover international connections, and strengthen prevention, said Martin Roudny, head of the Eastern Branch of the Vienna Criminal Police.
According to Szaga-Doktor, today’s rip-deals mostly involve cryptocurrency: about two-thirds to three-quarters of completed cases now fall into this category. A key difference is that victims no longer need to pay upfront—scammers convince them to upload funds to a wallet as a sign of good faith. Investigator Mario Kaintz added that crypto fraud has a much higher profit margin, and because no counterfeit cash is used, it also leaves fewer physical clues for police—such as DNA evidence.
