“An unknown person called an 84-year-old pensioner and, introducing himself as a local police officer, told him that, under a general power of attorney, they were trying to withdraw money from his bank account. The caller then connected the frightened man, supposedly with an employee confirmed that the savings were threatened, that they needed to be secured and “resolved” proactively,” the department reports. “The attackers then said they would carry out an operation to capture the criminals, the pensioner’s phone was tapped and they were not allowed to tell anyone about the ongoing activities.”
The scammers convinced the pensioner to deposit 550 thousand rubles in a reserve account.
But a day later they said that they needed more money and that it was necessary to secure the savings that were in the pensioner’s house. The pensioner told the attackers that he had more than 5 million rubles in foreign currency, after which, following his instructions, he packed them into two different packages and handed them to the courier, who supposedly came from the bank.
The Muscovite only suspected something was wrong when the scammers called him again and this time told him they were trying to get him a loan. After calling the bank, the man went to the police.
“Law enforcement officers do not carry out any procedural actions over the phone,” the prosecutor’s office recalled, “they never invite citizens to participate in activities related to the withdrawal and transfer of funds, as well as their transfer to couriers.”
The prosecutor’s office is following the progress of the investigation.
