Telephone scammers posing as bank and police employees forced a Gomel resident to sell his three-room apartment.
The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on this fact.
This was reported by the press service of the Investigative Committee for the Gomel Region.
How the scammers operated
According to investigators, in July of this year, a 46-year-old resident of Gomel received a call from an alleged bank employee.
Having confidently stated the Gomel resident’s last name, first name and patronymic, the “bank employee” informed him that a loan had been confirmed in his name.
When the man said he was a client of another bank, the caller transferred him to the security service of a competing institution.
In a new dialogue, the Gomel resident was informed that many accounts had been opened in his name, into which more than 112,000 rubles had been received.
Then a "lieutenant colonel from the Frunzensky District Department of Internal Affairs of Minsk" called. He told the man that he was under investigation for dubious accounts and real estate.
The "lieutenant colonel" suggested two possible scenarios: placement in a pre-trial detention facility for the duration of the investigation or assistance in catching the fraudsters.
The Gomel resident chose the second option. A series of calls followed from other people involved in the special operation.
Under their pressure, the man agreed to the allegedly fictitious sale of a three-room apartment. He transferred the proceeds – 95,000 rubles – to the fraudsters’ accounts.
The scammers continued to call the Gomel resident for a long time with various tasks: they asked him to apply for SIM cards and open bank accounts.
Eventually, the man realized that he had become a victim of fraud and contacted the police.
The Gomel city 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).
