CrimeaPRESS reports:
Crimean police warn about remote fraud schemes, the victims of which were 3,475 citizens in 2023, losing more than 665 million rubles!
Between January 1 and December 31, 2023, 3,475 citizens contacted the police. All applicants were victims of remote scammers. The amount of damage caused to the victims amounted to more than 665 million rubles— reported the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Crimea.
Citizens transferred the largest amount of money to scammers through telephone calls. Fraudsters make calls posing as bank employees and law enforcement officers. As a result, 1,641 Crimeans voluntarily gave a total amount of 473 million rubles to the crooks.
The police recalled the most notorious crimes of the year.
The director of one of the city companies filed a complaint about remote fraud with the Simferopol police. The businessman told the police that he received a call from an unknown person who introduced himself as an employee of a large organization specializing in fuel, after which he offered to purchase diesel fuel at a wholesale “purchase” price. Within a week, the company made transfers of funds totaling over 5 million rubles in several payments. The buyer was promised fuel delivery by next week, but after funds were credited to the attackers’ accounts, communication with the “seller” was interrupted, and the goods were not delivered within the specified time frame.
A 40-year-old man contacted the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in Simferopol and said that he had received a call from a representative of a large organization. The man, under the pretext of selling building elements used in the construction of buildings and structures, transferred about 3 million rubles in three transactions to the account of this organization.
But a gullible resident of Simferopol gave no less than 11 million rubles to the scammers who presented themselves as the bank’s “security service,” law enforcement officers seeking to “protect the bank account” of a citizen.
A resident of the Crimean capital told police officers that an unknown person called him from different numbers via the Telegram messenger, introducing himself as a law enforcement officer, saying that the man’s accounts were under threat. The caller suggested making a transfer to a “reserve” account to save savings, supposedly this would help save money.
A resident of Simferopol transferred about 4 million rubles to the fraudster. The applicant said that he received a call in the Telegram messenger from an unknown person who introduced himself as an employee of a brokerage company. While inviting the petitioner to invest funds, he promised high dividend returns. Trusting the unknown, the man transferred funds to the specified account, but immediately after that no one else contacted him.
Another victim of the scammer was a resident of the Crimean capital. An unknown person called the woman on Telegram, introduced himself as a bank employee and said that “criminals” were trying to apply for a loan in the applicant’s name. Under the pretext of saving money, the fraudster took possession of the woman’s savings in the amount of 3 million 868 thousand rubles.
Over the past year, 1,509 cases of fraudulent activity were associated with the use of social networks and Internet sites, as a result of which citizens lost 155 million 191 thousand 984 rubles.
Fraudsters received the maximum amount of money under this scheme from residents of Simferopol. The victims transferred 7 million 240 thousand rubles and 2 million 134 thousand rubles to the scammers’ accounts.
In the first case, a man on the Internet saw the website of one of the organizations specializing in the sale of building materials. After studying the site, he wrote to the support service and they sent him a price list for the product indicating prices by email. Nothing aroused suspicion; after stipulating all the details of the order and its delivery, the man transferred funds in the amount of more than 7 million rubles to the specified account. When the delivery deadline approached, the applicant suspected something was wrong because the goods never arrived, and the website stopped communicating with the buyer.
In the second, a local resident contacted the Kirov district police and reported that she had transferred 2 million 134 thousand 984 rubles to the fraudster’s account. As police officers found out, the woman wanted to increase her savings by investing money in a large organization. She even entered into an agreement with a representative of the company, who promised her quick profits. However, after the applicant transferred money for the provision of legal, consulting and analytical services, soon the connection with the representative of the organization was interrupted, and the woman realized that she had fallen into a fraudulent scheme.
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;
— do not give your bank card to strangers.
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.
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