Barcelona have reportedly fallen victim to a sophisticated fraud attempt, losing €1 million (£830,000) to a scammer posing as someone associated with star striker Robert Lewandowski’s agent.
Lewandowski, who was signed by Barcelona from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2022 for an initial fee of €45 million (£37 million), has since become a key player, scoring 71 goals in 106 matches, reports AFP.
However, behind the scenes, Barcelona faced a serious issue when a fraudster exploited the high-profile transfer.
Following Lewandowski’s move, Barcelona was contacted by someone claiming to be working with his agent, Pini Zahavi.
The fraudster, using the fake identity of Michael Hermanus Gerardus Demon, posed as Lewandowski’s lawyer and demanded €1 million to be transferred to a Cypriot bank account.
Despite the persistence of the fraudster, Barca eventually agreed to make the payment, sending the money to an account at Banc de Xipre.
Fortunately, the bank’s compliance department flagged the transaction as suspicious and froze the funds, preventing the fraudster from accessing them.
An investigation by Cadena SER revealed that the fraudster had no prior banking history with the Cypriot bank, and when asked to verify their identity, Barcelona reached out to Zahavi, who confirmed he had no knowledge of the individual. The bank then permanently froze the funds.
‘Mr. Demon’ later threatened to report Barcelona to UEFA and demanded an additional €250,000 (£207,000) for his silence. However, Barcelona successfully recovered the €1 million from the Cypriot bank.
Despite the close call, Catalan police have not launched a criminal investigation since the club has not filed a formal complaint.
Barcelona confirmed to Cadena SER that the club had been targeted in an attempted fraud, which has led them to strengthen their anti-fraud protocols.
