"You've won an apartment." Fraudsters swindled a Grodno resident out of over 55,000 rubles
Fraudsters, under the pretext of a raffle for an apartment, swindled more than 55,000 rubles from a resident of Grodno.
A criminal case has been opened on fraud on an especially large scale.
This was reported by the press service of the Investigative Committee for the Grodno Region.
How the scammers operated
According to the investigation, in April of this year, a 46-year-old resident of Grodno saw an advertisement on the Internet about additional income, followed the link, and left her phone number.
A few hours later, an unknown person called her on the Telegram messenger, introduced himself as a curator, and offered to make money on trading.
The woman was initially confused by the offer, and said she needed to think about it. A few days later, the scammers contacted her again. The curator explained that she only needed to deposit money and follow the instructions of experienced mentors.
Wanting to make sure that the platform was real, a resident of the regional center contributed 10 dollars. The amount immediately appeared on the balance.
After this, the scammers allowed the Grodno resident to withdraw 12 rubles onto her card.
The woman decided that everything was legal and started depositing money. After a few months, the balance reached $12,000.
However, the scammers decided to go further. Grodnenka was told that the platform was allegedly holding a drawing for an apartment, but to participate, the balance must be more than $20,000.
A resident of the regional center took out a loan for 15,000 rubles and transferred the funds to the specified account.
After some time, the Grodno resident was informed about winning the drawing and the opportunity to withdraw money. At the same time, they indicated that it was necessary to pay taxes, insurance and other payments.
Wanting to get rich, the woman transferred more than 55,000 rubles to the fraudsters’ accounts over four months.
The Grodno inter-district department of the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on this fact under Part 4 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code (fraud on an especially large scale).
For reference
Fraud is the theft of someone else's property or the acquisition of rights to someone else's property through deception or abuse of trust.
