Resident of Ulan-Ude gave fraudsters 15.3 million rubles, believing in the criminal case

In Ulan-Ude, a woman lost about 15.3 million rubles, believing phone scammers about her involvement in a criminal case. It all began in the early days of September, when the mobile phone received a message about the alleged hacking of the personal account on the portal of state services.

Having called the number indicated in the message, the citizen came into contact with scammers who introduced themselves as employees of federal supervisory authorities and special services. The attackers convinced the woman that a general power of attorney for third parties was issued in her name, and also that a criminal case was initiated against her, the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Buryatia told.

For psychological pressure, one of the accomplices, who called himself an investigator, showed fake office offices, fictitious documents and a power of attorney with the personal data of the victim through a video call. The man threatened detention, searches and charges of aiding illegal activities, saying that in order to "save funds" and "cancell power of attorney" it is necessary to withdraw cash and transfer them to couriers, as well as transfer the money to "safe accounts." The victim trusted the scammers.

Acting on the orders of perjured employees, from September to November, the citizen withdrew cash from the branches of various credit institutions and passed them to pre-appointed couriers. In addition, she transferred part of the funds to accounts controlled by fraudsters, depositing cash through ATMs in shopping centers in parts to bypass the established limits. So the woman lost her money, which she planned to spend on buying real estate in another city.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs in Buryatia noted that earlier preventive conversations were held with police officers, and bank employees repeatedly pointed to possible signs of fraud.