Telephone scammers posing as law enforcement officers swindled almost 18,000 rubles from a pensioner from Orsha.
The press service of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee reported this on Telegram.
How the scammers operated
A 74-year-old resident of Orsha received a call on the WhatsApp messenger (banned in Russia, owned by Meta, a company recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation) from a man who introduced himself as a colonel of the financial police.
The "colonel" told the pensioner that her home would be searched and all undeclared money would be confiscated.
Following the instructions of the fake law enforcement officer, the woman deposited 17,980 rubles into a bank account.
After this, the “colonel” demanded that he be given access to Internet banking, allegedly to verify the transaction.
The pensioner provided her login and password for her personal account, and money was debited from her account.
The Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Department of Internal Affairs reminds: employees of banks, mobile operators and law enforcement agencies do not call in messengers and do not ask to “declare” money.
Never give your personal information to strangers, even if they intimidate you, the department’s press service added.
