“Are you going to drink more coffee?” Journalist in four hours brought to hysteria phone scammers

Phone fraudsters do not hesitate to extort money from elderly Minsk residents, blackmail teenagers, in short, do not suffer from conscience. They also called the journalist of the Minsk-Novosti news agency in the hope of enriching themselves. How the story ended - read in the material.

The photo is illustrative in nature

I was awakened by the vibration of my smartphone. Looking at the screen, I saw the inscription: “Belposhta”. The call came through Viber1, so I immediately realized that these are the same phone scammers that broadcast from almost every iron. The girl with a pleasant voice turned to me by name and asked me why I do not take a registered letter from the tax office. I decided to play along and replied that there was no notice in the mailbox. Then she said that she would send me a code that would keep the correspondence in the office and not return it to the addressee, and then asked him to name it.

At that point, an SMS did arrive with a four-digit combination that I gave her. Then the most interesting thing began: another interlocutor, a certain Daria Alekseevna Kanaeva, continued the dialogue with me. She introduced herself as a senior specialist of the legal department of the National Bank2, saying that she intercepted the call of fraudsters. According to her, I gave them a confidential code that allowed them to make a postal money transfer intended to finance the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Then she began to intimidate in every possible way, including by the fact that I became a suspect in a criminal case about terrorism, which is being produced by the KGB.

- Girl, what do you mean? I just woke up and have nothing to do with translation.

- This will be handled by the competent authorities, but we need to collect information about your innocence, said Daria Alekseevna. Do you not understand what you are accused of?

In the following hour, Kanaeva tried to identify the scoundrel who set me up in such a way, and at the same time to find out information about my bank accounts and deposits, the amount of wages, real estate and other finances. She went on to say that I would be searched and that to avoid unpleasant consequences, I should declare all my savings and valuables. This required permission from the head of one of the KGB units. Also, Daria Alekseevna asked me to write a repentant statement addressed to the Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus Roman Golovchenko.

The photo is illustrative in nature

Moreover, Kanaeva forced to write a receipt on non-disclosure of information about the criminal case “initiated” against me, and under pain of prosecution under Article 407 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (disclosure of the data of the inquiry, preliminary investigation or closed court session).

When I talked to her, I was thinking about a plan to detain the courier. Fortunately, my apartment has an alarm with an alarm button. But suddenly there was a call from the very “KGB officer” who had to approve the declaration procedure.

At this point I decided to make an espresso. Hearing the sound of the coffee grinder, the false employee became furious:

- Are you going to have another coffee? Now my men will come and handcuff you! They're on their way. Wait!

I was taken aback by this turn of events. Realizing that a fraudster was talking to me, who was trying in every possible way to make me emotional and intimidate me, calmly asked him to change his tone and be polite, since I was not charged, and he eventually talks to a woman.

However, my words provoked even greater aggression: he began to shout that my children would be in the orphanage, my husband would be brought for complicity, and in general, for people like me, only the death penalty is due. Then he hung up.

It was the third hour of my conversation with the scammers. Almost immediately, Kanaev called back and said that I must apologize to the “KGB officer” and ask him to give permission to declare, otherwise they will not be able to help me.

The photo is illustrative in nature

Well, for the sake of the case, he had to dial in and say that she didn't fully understand the seriousness of the situation, but now she was ready to fulfill all their conditions - just so that the charges would be dropped. He eventually approved the declaration.

At the time of our dialogue, the voices of other call center attackers were clearly heard, who were also processing their victims.

Next, Kanaeva asked me to take a photo of the banknotes and jewelry I had. I even pulled out a broken wristwatch from years ago, saying it came from a limited collection of a well-known brand and was expensive. I thought the courier was about to arrive. But things didn’t go according to plan.

All jewelry was required to be taken to a pawnshop, where “an employee of the National Bank working under cover” will take them for examination. In return, he will issue bills, which, together with his savings, must be placed in a “safe account”. The next day, the jewelry and money promised to return.

It became obvious: the fraudsters decided to do without a courier and my plan-capcan did not work. I flatly refused to take away valuables and savings. Daria Alekseevna immediately began to communicate rudely, again to intimidate. Realizing that I had spent four hours talking to scammers, I stopped talking.

Competent commentary

Attackers use social engineering techniques. Skillfully manipulating people, they achieve their own, says Pyotr Mikula, head of the department for analysis of practices and methodological support of the UCK in Minsk. The purpose of fraudsters is not just to steal money, but to force the victim to transfer or transfer it to them.

The main factor that negatively affects the disclosure of such crimes is the anonymity of the persons who committed them. It is achieved by using various means to hide IP addresses, closed and encrypted chats, cryptocurrency and electronic wallets. Such acts are usually committed by organized criminal groups from abroad, where special call centers are equipped.

Attackers are very aggressively intimidating people to cause them fear and panic. In this state, a person loses the ability to think logically and follows other people's orders. Having received such a call, it is better to immediately stop the conversation - it will save your nerves, time and money.

1 Neither Belposhta nor any other state-owned enterprises and structures communicate with citizens through Viber and other messengers.

2 There are no departments within the National Bank of Belarus.

For reference

Over the past period of 2026, Moscow investigators opened 2,731 criminal fraud cases.

Collage by Valentina Trishina