A woman from Yoshkar-Ola took nearly 3.7 million rubles from Slobozhane residents at the scammers' request.

      At the end of July unknown callers rang local residents on landlines, offering discounts on communication fees, contract extensions, or threatening them with criminal prosecution. During the calls the perpetrators forced pensioners to give their passport details and disclose their savings, assuring them that the money needed to be "checked and declared." The elderly were persuaded to gather all their cash, including amounts withdrawn from accounts, pack it up and hand it over to a courier who was supposed to give a code word. A 75-year-old resident of Yoshkar-Ola collected the money from all three. As police found, the woman had previously herself fallen victim to the same scheme and lost 1.7 million rubles. The fraudsters convinced her to "help" collect money from the locals and take it to Moscow, where she handed the cash to unknown persons. Criminal cases have been opened in connection with the incidents and combined into a single proceeding. The investigation continues.