Phone scam courier goes on trial in Voronezh

The Prosecutor«s Office of the Leninsky District has approved an indictment against a 20-year-old local resident on two charges — fraud on an especially large scale and attempted fraud on the same scale. According to the investigation, the man got a job as a courier for phone scammers. They called potential victims — elderly people — and under various pretexts extorted money from them. The defendant»s «job duties» included collecting cash from people and sending it to the «bosses,» keeping a percentage for himself.

As reported by the Prosecutor«s Office of the Voronezh Region, in October 2025, one pensioner was defrauded of 384,000 rubles (approximately $4,300 at current rates). Another was scammed out of 1.5 million rubles (approximately $16,700 at current rates), but just as he was about to hand over the money to the courier, police detained the courier.

The top of this fraudulent pyramid has not yet been identified, and a separate criminal case is being investigated. Most likely, they continue to deceive and fleece trusting citizens. The courier faces up to six years in prison. For more on how a Voronezh pensioner surpassed Larisa Dolina by selling her real estate for scammers and giving them 12 million rubles, read here.