Courier for the 'special services': a participant in a fraudulent scheme was caught in Kirov.

      Law enforcement officers in the Kirov Region caught a resident of the Altai Republic red-handed. According to investigators, he was part of a chain of phone scammers and collected large sums of cash from Kirov residents, converting them into cryptocurrency for a fee. He has already been charged under Part 3 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“large‑scale fraud”), the press service of the Russian Interior Ministry for the Kirov Region said.

      According to the investigation, the perpetrator took part in a scheme to extort money from Kirov residents. The victims were mostly elderly people. First, the victims received calls from “clinic staff” or “telephone exchange” employees who, under the pretext of scheduling a doctor’s appointment or updating a contract, asked them to provide personal data. Then “security service” officers would contact them, accusing the pensioners of financing terrorists.

      Frightened pensioners agreed to “declare their funds.” They were told that a courier would come for the cash, take it to Moscow “for inspection,” and return it afterward. In fact, the money was immediately handed over to a middleman who converted it into cryptocurrency.

      Despite the implausibility of the story, people handed over hundreds of thousands of rubles, convinced they were saving themselves from serious charges. The investigation is now looking for other victims who have not yet contacted the police.