There are still two and a half months until the New Year, but the first victims of “Christmas tree” scammers have already appeared in the Vitebsk region.
Fake winter tire sellers have also become more active.
The press service of the Regional Executive Committee's Internal Affairs Department reported this on Telegram.
How seasonal scammers operate
As a rule, a page is created on the social network Instagram (banned in Russia, owned by the Meta company, which is recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation), disguised as an online store or a thematic page.
Buyers are offered to buy goods at reduced prices or as part of a "special and unique" promotion. In this case, full prepayment is required.
A 37-year-old woman from Vitebsk fell for this trick. She had long planned to buy a cast spruce and saw a tempting offer on the elkihouse_by Instagram page.
The buyer was convinced that full prepayment in one payment would allow her to save 50% of the cost of the goods.
The woman transferred 345 rubles, after which they stopped contacting her.
Another Vitebsk resident, who planned to buy two cast-iron Christmas trees, transferred 440 rubles to the scammers.
Fake winter tire sellers have also become more active; Instagram is already full of fake stores, the Internal Affairs Directorate added.
