Retiree lost two apartments after talking to scammers

      Swindlers are constantly improving their schemes to deceive citizens. In most cases, elderly people fall for their tricks. Recently, an incident with significant damage occurred in Petrozavodsk, reports karelinform.ru. A 61-year-old woman lost a substantial amount of money after falling victim to a scam.

      The perpetrators, citing a leak of personal data and the threat of credit acquisition, convinced her to sell two apartments and transfer the funds to fake accounts. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Karelia, the pensioner first received a message resembling a notification from a former supervisor about suspicious activity on her accounts. Then, via video call, she was presented with a "FSB officer" showing an ID and informing her of the urgent need to repay a loan supposedly taken out fraudulently in her name. The woman borrowed half a million rubles from acquaintances and transferred it, along with her savings, to the details provided by the scammers.

      Soon, she was told about a false power of attorney and was urged to urgently sell the two apartments, with the proceeds also transferred to the scammers. Once she ran out of money, the "impostor" unexpectedly advised her to contact law enforcement authorities.

      As a result of the scammers' actions, the total damage exceeded 5.4 million rubles, and a criminal case has been initiated.

      We previously reported on scam schemes involving couriers, job offers, and a fake government services aggregator.