Sevastopol police urge you to remember that remote scammers spare no one

In just one day, in the Leninsky district of Sevastopol, two pensioners became victims of criminals, who lost their savings after a telephone conversation with swindlers. In the first case, an 85-year-old local resident contacted the police after transferring more than 1 million rubles to accounts controlled by the scammers. Police found that the woman began receiving calls from a stranger who introduced himself as a law enforcement officer. The false law enforcement officer frightened the pensioner by talking about an attempt to steal her savings in her bank account, and under the pretext of “preventing the write-off” of funds, he convinced her to transfer the savings to the details he specified.— said the press service of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in Sevastopol.

A 68-year-old pensioner suffered from the fraudulent scheme “Your relative got into an accident” and transferred about 100 thousand rubles to the criminals. In the evening, the woman received a call from a scammer who introduced himself as a law enforcement official and said that the victim’s niece was the culprit of a road accident with serious consequences, and in order not to bring her to criminal responsibility it was necessary to pay a large sum. Fearing for her relative, the elderly woman handed over her savings to the courier sent by the scammers, after which she realized that she had been deceived and contacted the police.

Based on these facts, employees of the internal affairs bodies have initiated criminal cases under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Fraud” and are taking all necessary measures aimed at solving crimes.

In order to prevent the above cases, Sevastopol police once again reminds that when receiving such calls from strangers reporting problems with a bank account and other troubles that threaten large property damage, or talking about a relative in trouble, it is necessary to remain calm and reasonable. Please note that scammers may have some information about you and your loved ones and have some knowledge of banking and law enforcement terminology, and often use the logo of a law enforcement agency and a scanned copy of a fake ID.

It should be remembered that real law enforcement officers do not require citizens to hand over money to them to release someone from criminal liability; law enforcement officers and bank employees do not offer to transfer savings to “spare”, “reserve” or “safe” accounts, do not ask for confidential data and do not forced to install mobile applications on your smartphone. Only remote scammers can make such demands!

In such a situation, you must immediately interrupt the conversation with the intruder and report the suspicious call to the police by calling 102. Tell your elderly family and friends about precautions. Explain that only by refraining from fulfilling the demands of the attackers and ignoring their persuasion, instructions and threats will they keep their money.

If you have suffered from a crime, you should immediately contact the nearest territorial unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia or by calling the above telephone number.

source: press service of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for the city of Sevastopol (based on materials from the legal adviser of the legal group of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Leninsky district, Dmitry Obelov)