An event organizer from Kiel has likely lost his savings of 118000 euros in a fixed-term deposit scam. Two months after responding to an Instagram ad for a supposed Santander bank offer, he filed a police report for commercial fraud.
The man, whose real name is different, responded to an ad on the social network. The site gave the impression of a genuine fixed deposit at the Spanish major bank Santander. In reality the bank had nothing to do with it.
Fraudsters copied websites and log-ins of well-known institutions. They lured with higher interest rates and diverted investors' money. Such cases have gained credibility since interest rates returned to several percent.
Consumer centers recorded more than 1400 complaints about investment fraud in 2025. That represents a 59 percent increase compared with the previous year.