Over the course of a week in Crimea, 57 citizens gave almost 20 million rubles to scammers

CrimeaPRESS reports:

From December 4 to December 10, 57 people became victims of remote scammers in Crimea. The amount of damage caused to the victims amounted to 19 million 486 thousand 155 rubles.

CALLS.

Fraudsters make calls through WhatsApp, Telegram and Viber, posing as bank employees and law enforcement officers. 28 citizens who suffered from the actions of fraudsters using this scheme contacted the police. People, after talking on the phone with strangers and believing the scammers’ stories, gave them 16 million 113 thousand 161 rubles— reported the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Crimea.

A woman contacted the Simferopol police and said that the day before she received a call from an alleged bank employee who said that unknown people had issued a loan in her name and now she would have to pay interest on the loan. Believing the story of the unknown person, in order to avoid increasing the amount of debt due to penalties, the applicant transferred funds in the amount of 964 thousand 500 rubles to the account indicated to her by the unknown person. However, the woman soon found out that she had no debt to the bank at all.

A 27-year-old resident of Kerch who contacted the police about fraud said that she received a call from an unknown caller who introduced himself as an employee of the MFC. The caller offered the applicant his assistance in protecting her bank account from criminal attacks. Acting under the dictation of the attacker, the victim transferred money in the amount of 80 thousand rubles to the specified account.

19 of the specified number of CALLS were made through instant messengers, including using the logo of one of the leading banks in Crimea. The total amount of damage is 12 million 720 thousand 429 rubles.

In most cases, scammers call via WhatsApp, Telegram and Viber, using logos of well-known banks, and introduce themselves as specialists from financial organizations or law enforcement officers. They intimidate victims with stories that unknown people are making suspicious transactions in their accounts and trying to steal money. Then they propose, in order to preserve savings, to transfer money to so-called “reserve” accounts, convincing citizens that their money will be safe this way and attackers will not be able to cash it out. However, it is not! Unsuspecting victims transfer large sums to the accounts dictated by the scammers, after which the calls stop, and the victims realize that they do not have access to new accountsthe police said.

Thus, residents of Yalta, Yevpatoria and Feodosia transferred amounts of 300 thousand rubles, 140 thousand rubles and 31 thousand rubles to the accounts indicated by the attackers.

Maximum sums of money became the property of scammers from residents of Simferopol, Yalta, Kerch and the Simferopol region.

An applicant from Simferopol said that the fraudster called him through the Viber messenger and acted according to the scheme “They are trying to get a loan for you.” Then he proposed a way to resist criminals, which was to also take out a loan and put the borrowed money in a “safe” bank safe deposit box: this would supposedly prevent criminals from cashing out funds. A gullible resident of the Crimean capital transferred 3 million 682 thousand rubles to the attacker’s account.

A resident of Yalta lost 2 million 200 thousand rubles. As the police found out, she received a call on Telegram from a fake bank employee who offered to save her savings by transferring them to a “reserve” account. Without hesitation, the woman made the transfer. Only after the conversation was interrupted did she realize that she had fallen for the scammer’s tricks.

INTERNET SITES, SOCIAL NETWORKS.

On free classifieds sites and in groups on social networks, attackers post:

• advertisements for the sale of various goods;
• job offers via Internet sites;
• information about easy earnings through investments.

Over the past week, 25 cases of fraudulent activity were associated with the use of social networks and Internet sites, as a result of which citizens lost 2 million 941 thousand 092 rubles.

A resident of Simferopol communicated with a promising foreigner on a dating site, who informed the girl about the seriousness of his intentions towards her, however, according to the potential groom, there were some nuances with the paperwork. The girl, trying to help her lover, transferred 530 thousand rubles to his account, part of which she took on credit. However, she soon realized that she had become a victim of a scammer.

A resident of the Crimean capital transferred 93 thousand rubles to the scammers. In the Telegram messenger, she received a message from an unknown contact with an offer to increase her income by booking hotels on one of the Internet sites. After checking with the interlocutor some details (gender, age, city of residence, profession), the subscriber sent a link to a website with a list of hotels and tasks that need to be completed. For each hotel room reservation, the woman had to transfer some amounts of money, which, according to the “employer,” would be returned to her with interest. As a result, a resident of Simferopol transferred a large amount, but did not receive a return on her investment, much less the promised bonuses.

A resident of Yalta transferred more than 67 thousand rubles to the fraudster’s account. He contacted the police with a complaint about fraud and said that he had received a message on Telegram from an unknown person who offered him easy money through investments. The man was interested in such an offer, and he made a transfer to the account specified by the attacker. As a result, I lost my money.

A resident of the Simferopol region transferred more than 25 thousand rubles to the fraudster’s account via Internet banking. As the victim told the police, on one of the sites for buying and selling goods on the Internet, he saw information about the sale of a generator. The man made a money transfer to the account indicated to him by the seller, after which the connection with the false seller was interrupted.

INSTALLING THIRD-PARTY APPLICATIONS AND FOLLOWING LINKS.

4 citizens lost more than 430 thousand rubles after following links from an unknown source.

Two residents of Yevpatoria received calls from unknown persons under the guise of mobile operators. Having persuaded the men to install a third-party application on their smartphones, the attackers gained remote access to the applicants’ gadgets, from where they wrote off funds in the amounts of 243 thousand rubles and 95 thousand rubles.

A resident of one of the villages in the Simferopol region lost 66 thousand rubles after ending up on a “mirror” website for housing rentals. The woman, intending to rent a hotel room, transferred funds to the account indicated on the website, but soon realized that she had ended up on a duplicate website.

A resident of a village in the Belogorsk region was selling an electric swing through an Internet site. She received a message on WhatsApp from an unknown person. The “buyer” said that he was satisfied with the price and offered to follow the link to receive payment. After filling out all the data, funds in the amount of more than 27 thousand rubles were debited from the victim’s account.

The police once again reminds:

Don’t rush into decisions regarding money. Remember, the security of your financial assets depends only on you.

Be vigilant and follow the recommendations:

— do not believe people who introduce themselves as law enforcement officers and banking employees who report that any transactions are being made with your money account at the moment;

— do not follow unknown links received via messengers from third-party sources;

— do not install applications on your mobile phones that you are hearing about for the first time or do not have detailed information about how they work;

— do not follow the instructions of unknown citizens trying to convince you of quick “easy” money — no one is interested in helping you get rich for free.

If you have become a victim of scammers, immediately report it to the police by calling 102 or submit a written statement to any nearest police station.

Crimea news | CrimeaPRESS: latest news and main events