An 89-year-old woman from Kirov handed 400,000 rubles to scammers.

      According to the Russian Interior Ministry in the Kirov region, an unknown person first called the woman and introduced himself as an employee of a telecom operator. He said her contract was about to expire and asked her to provide her SNILS.

      Two days later the pensioner received another call. This time a man introduced himself as a "justice adviser" and said that money from her accounts was supposedly being used to finance Ukraine, and that she now faced criminal liability. Then an "investigator" joined the call, saying that they would come to the Kirov resident's home to conduct a search and asking her to gather all her money so it could be "declared."

      Later a "tax official" called the woman and warned that a cash collector would come for the money and would give a code word. Two days later a young woman did arrive, said the required word, and the pensioner handed her a package containing 400,000 rubles.

      The money never returned, and the Kirov resident realized she had been scammed. A criminal case has been opened on fraud, and the police are identifying the perpetrators.