A woman from Kirov transferred 1.35 million to scammers after believing the story about transferring money for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

      A 58-year-old woman from Kirov contacted the police after losing a large sum of money following communication with scammers, reports the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Kirov region. According to law enforcement, the woman received a message on the Telegram messenger from unknown individuals who claimed to be employees of the FSB and the Central Bank. They informed her that her bank accounts were supposedly under threat — the criminals allegedly planned to transfer funds to finance the Ukrainian armed forces. To avoid "legal problems," the woman was advised to strictly follow their instructions. She first withdrew money from her accounts, then, following the callers' instructions, entered her banking card data into a contactless payment app and transferred 1.35 million rubles via ATMs at two branches. Afterward, she deleted the cards from the app and realized she no longer had access to her funds. A criminal case has been opened based on this incident. Currently, the identities of the callers and the recipients of the transferred funds are being established. Law enforcement reminds the public that security and financial agency employees never conduct such operations over the phone or in messengers and never request money transfers to "safe accounts." In case of doubt, it is necessary to immediately end the conversation and contact the police.