Four residents of Pinsk organized a call center through which they deceived citizens and stole their money.
As a result, almost 50,000 people throughout Belarus suffered from the activities of this criminal female quartet.
According to the press service of the Investigative Committee for the Brest Region, in January 2020, the defendants registered a fictitious legal entity, allegedly selling goods through an online store.
"Household Goods"
In the center of Pinsk they rented a space, which they equipped as a call center. They hired over 100 people to work for them.
On the orders of their bosses, the call center “managers” called Belarusians for three years in a row.
Citizens were told on behalf of the online store “Goods for the Home” that they had allegedly won computer equipment, which had already been sent to the “winner of the promotion” by mail.
Trusting people paid the cash on delivery fee, but instead of winnings, they found paper trash, product catalogs, and gift certificates for smartphones, laptops, tablets, and other equipment in the boxes.
By the way, it was impossible to use these certificates. And later the operators notified the victims about the absence of goods in the warehouse.
More than 2 million rubles were embezzled
The money from the cost of cash on delivery ended up in the accounts of the cunning women, while “the online store, computer equipment, and warehouse with goods never existed.”
A criminal case has been opened against the fraudsters, whose criminal activity was stopped by police officers.
During the investigation of this case, it was established that the scammers deceived more than 49,000 Belarusians, totaling over 2 million rubles.
They spent the stolen funds on personal needs and to pay wages to hired workers, the regional office of the Investigative Committee noted.
Searches and arrests
Searches were conducted in the office premises, as well as at the residences of the suspects, as a result of which over 100 units of computer equipment were seized.
Real estate and luxury items purchased with criminally obtained money have been seized.
One of the defendants was taken into custody.
The Investigative Committee asks Belarusians who have suffered from Pinsk scammers to report this by calling 8 (0162) 27 37 00.
For reference
A call center (from the English call center - call processing center, also call center) is a specialized organization or a dedicated division in an organization engaged in processing requests and providing information via voice communication channels in the interests of the customer organization or the parent organization.
