‘I lost all the money I saved in 20 years’: More victims testify in cryptocurrency fraud case

The compilation of evidence against 25-year-old Tammy Caruana continued on Thursday, as more victims took the witness stand to recount the tactics used by the alleged fraudster to siphon their funds.

Caruana is pleading not guilty to charges, that she masqueraded as a bank official to deceive individuals into disclosing sensitive financial data, which was subsequently used to siphon funds into crypto channels.

Taking the witness stand, the first victim recounted how she was targeted by the sophisticated phishing scam while at work at court on 19 September 2025.

She testified she received a mobile notification warning her of a “new desktop login” on her bank account, instructing her to click a link or call a number if the login was unauthorised.

The victim maintained that since she was busy at work, she opted to click the link, which directed her to a portal that mirrored the legitimate Bank of Valletta (BOV) login page. Crucially, she noted that the alert appeared within the official SMS thread she regularly receives from the bank.

After entering her credentials, a pop-up informed her that a bank representative would contact her. Moments later, she received a call displaying BOV’s official number. A Maltese-speaking woman on the line claimed there had been a fraudulent login attempt from a 2011 MacBook at around 3am.

The caller told her that four fraudulent transactions totaling €4,950 had been initiated. The fraudster reassured the victim that she would systematically cancel the transactions one by one, a process allegedly taking up to an hour, and that confirmation texts would follow. The victim was also instructed to reset her password and promised a detailed report on the incident via post.

Upon contacting a friend who manages a BOV branch, the victim discovered that this was in fact and a scam, and the funds were being routed to a German bank account that had illicitly been opened under her own name. 

The witness confirmed she never recovered the €4,950 stolen.

A second witness testified that he was targeted on 15 November 2024, when he received a phone call from a woman warning him that unauthorised card attempts were being made on his account. The witness remarked that the caller had a “sweet voice” and requested his six-digit BOV passcode. Two days later, a link was sent to his mobile phone, which, upon clicking, redirected him to what appeared to be the official BOV portal.

When asked by the court what made the interaction seem legitimate, the witness explained that the caller had addressed him by his full name and explicitly told him not to disclose any other personal banking details over the phone for “security reasons”, a clever tactic that successfully gained his trust. The fraud ultimately resulted in €470 being stolen from his account.

Another witness testified that she was targeted on 18 November 2024, when she received a phone call from a woman claiming to be a BOV representative named “Rachel”. The caller asked the witness if she had been in Siġġiewi the previous evening, claiming someone had attempted to access her online banking from that location. By coincidence, the witness had indeed been there but had not used her banking services.

The fraudster advised her to close the account immediately, warning that scammers might try to siphon her funds within two days. The caller then offered to guide her through the process, sending a link and instructing the victim to remove her user ID, change her password, and log in. The caller promised that a new user ID and password would be issued.

After hanging up, the witness grew suspicious, wondering why the bank had asked for her phone number when they already had it on file. Upon calling the genuine customer care line, she was informed that three transactions of €1,250, €1,650, and €1,950 had been withdrawn and that she had been scammed. She subsequently filed a police report.

“The way she spoke to me was highly convincing; she was very polite,” the victim told the court. “I feel so terrible because I constantly tell my children to be careful. Those were my personal savings, the only money I had managed to save in 20 years, as I have never worked.” She noted that the bank eventually refunded her €2,425.

The prosecution was led by Inspector Claire Vella Borg together with AG lawyers Marica Ciantar and Mauro Abela.

Lawyer Stefano FIlletti appeared on behalf of Bank of Valletta plc, while lawyer Maria Lisa Buttigieg appeared on behalf of Banif plc.

Lawyers Roberto Spiteri, Alfred Abela, Rene Darmanin and Franco Galea appeared for the defence.