When a sphinx went missing…. Sevastopol police: when searching for a lost pet, beware of scammers!

Thus, a 34-year-old local resident contacted the OMVD of Russia for the Leninsky District, reporting that her Sphynx cat had gone missing. The saddened owner posted ads about searching for the animal in various messengers and social networks, and also suspected her neighbor of stealing the cat. After some time, an unknown person responded to the ad and said that he had the cat and was ready to return the pet to the owner for a reward. Unsuspectingly, the local resident transferred 17 thousand rubles to the fraudster, and when the swindler stopped communicating, she realized that she had become a victim of fraud. Frustrated by this result, the woman filed a statement with the OMVD of Russia for the Gagarinsky District. On this fact, employees of the internal affairs bodies opened a criminal case under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation «Fraud» and are taking all necessary measures aimed at identifying and searching for the offender.— the press service of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in Sevastopol noted.

As the police established, the cat ran out of the apartment onto the staircase of the building, where neighbors found it and took it in for temporary care, after which it was returned to its rightful owner. The man, whom the local resident suspected, turned out to be innocent, he was not aware of the animal’s location.

In order to prevent this type of theft, Sevastopol police warns that scammers find advertisements about lost pets, after which they call or write to the owners with an offer to return the animal for a small reward. Never agree to such a scheme! Having received the money, the scammers stop communicating, and the lost pet is never returned to its owners.

If the caller starts to rush you with payment, threatens to harm the animal and refuses to meet in person, you have been called SCAMMER!

If you have been a victim of a crime, you must immediately contact the nearest territorial division of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs or report it by calling 102.

source: press service of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for the city of Sevastopol