Online scammers swindled almost a million rubles from Sevastopol residents over the weekend

CrimeaPRESS reports:

Over the weekend, the Sevastopol police were contacted by four local residents aged from 37 to 74 years old, who suffered from scammers who stole money under the pretext of protecting savings in a bank account and when making an online purchase. The total amount of material damage amounted to 934 thousand rubles.

Under the pretext of protecting money in a bank account.

The victims of this scheme were a 37-year-old winery worker, a 42-year-old merchandiser and a 74-year-old pensioner, who were called by scammers under the guise of a cellular operator, an employee of an electronic portal and an “employee of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation” and reported that personal online accounts and bank accounts are in danger, and criminals are trying to steal their money.

The scammers convinced the victims to transfer all their money to accounts dictated by them. By following the instructions of the callers, residents of Sevastopol lost a total of 760 thousand rubles.

Dear citizens, remember: alleged problems with your bank accounts, as well as transfers to a “safe” or “reserve” account, are scammers’ tricks! NEVER follow the instructions you receive by phone and do not report the codes received via SMS, otherwise you will lose all your money— the Sevastopol Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs addressed the townspeople.

When making an online purchase.

On a popular online trading platform, a 41-year-old entrepreneur found an advertisement for the sale of a metal container. Having contacted the seller via messenger, the businessman transferred 174 thousand rubles to him as an advance payment, but never received the desired product.

Dear citizens! When making online purchases, avoid making advance payments until you are sure of the actual availability of the goods and the integrity of the seller. Remember: offering a product at a price significantly lower than the market price and demands for a large advance payment most often come from scammers,” the Sevastopol police emphasized.

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