Two Minsk residents gave scammers 48 thousand BYN: scammers used similar schemes

Two residents of Leninsky district of the capital with a slight difference in time became victims of telephone fraudsters. In both cases, the attackers posed as employees of various organizations, after which they intimidated the victims with criminal liability and persuaded them to transfer their savings. Each of the Minsk residents lost 48 thousand BYN, the correspondent of the agency “Minsk-Novosti” in the police Department of Leninsky district told.

Photo is illustrative, magnific.com

According to the deputy head of the Lenin police department, the head of the criminal police, Timofey Doroshevich, fraudsters use worked-out scenarios, changing only the pretext for the first call.

In the first case, a 45-year-old Minsk citizen in the messenger was called by an alleged employee of Belposhta. The interlocutor informed about the arrival of a registered letter and under the pretext of registration of courier delivery asked to name the code from the SMS message.

After that, the man was contacted allegedly by a cybersecurity officer. He said that the personal data of the Minsk citizen was stolen, and on his behalf there is financing of a terrorist organization. The attackers began to threaten a criminal case and a search in the apartment.

Succumbing to panic, the man agreed to “declar” his savings and handed over 48 thousand BYN to the courier who arrived.

In a similar way, scammers deceived an 80-year-old resident of the capital. The woman called through the messenger false representatives of the district administration. They proposed replacing the insurance card and recalculating the pension. To “confirm the identity”, the pensioner also dictated the code from the SMS.

Soon she was contacted by false employees of the Department of Financial Investigations (DFI). The woman was informed that her personal data was allegedly in the hands of the attackers, after which they began to threaten search and criminal prosecution for financing terrorism. To save the money from withdrawal, the pensioner was offered to transfer cash for “declaration”.

A frightened woman put 48,000 BYNs in her mailbox. From there, the money was taken by a courier, a 19-year-old student. Earlier, the young man himself became a victim of fraudsters and under the threat of criminal prosecution agreed to take cash abroad.

In both cases, criminal cases have been initiated under the article on fraud.

- These two examples show that scammers work on ready-made schemes. It does not matter who the caller is - a postman, an employee of the district administration, the DFR or the cybersecurity service. After a person reports a code from an SMS, they say that personal data was taken over by fraudsters, and then they begin to threaten criminal liability, Doroshevich said.

He recalled that employees of state institutions and law enforcement agencies do not offer citizens to transfer money to “safe accounts”, transfer cash to couriers or “declar” savings.

- If you are frightened by searches, criminal cases for serious articles and at the same time offer to save your savings by transferring cash, criminals call you. Immediately interrupt the conversation and report the incident by phone 102, – said the Deputy head of the Lenin police Department.

In order not to become a victim of fraudsters, law enforcement officers recommend never to tell anyone the codes from SMS. Regardless of who the interlocutor appears to be, you should stop the conversation and independently contact the organization using the official phone number.