Scam victim reveals how fraudsters tricked her into hiding
20-year-old Yekaterina, who was scammed and forced into hiding in hostels in Uralmash (a district of Yekaterinburg), came to the police and told how she was tricked. Under their influence, she took money from the cash register and transferred it to specified accounts. Here«s how it happened.
«I had a shift on November 18. I was tired at that moment, having worked three days in a row without a break. They called me in the store while I was at the cash register. A call comes from an unknown number, introduces himself as ‘Motiv’ and says that personal data is not confirmed.»
The girl realized her mistake after the conversation, seeing an SMS with codes. It said «Gosuslugi (Russian government services portal)», login to the personal account, and so on.
«Then the ‘security service’ calls me. Says, why are you giving out the codes, money has been transferred from you now, you need to resolve this issue. In the end, they transferred me to the ‘Central Bank of Russia’. There, an employee said that I need to ‘declare’ this money, and ‘you will be connected now with the FSB (Federal Security Service) security service’.»
According to Yekaterina, at first everything was like a normal call, after which links were sent in «Telegram», from there links were given to one of the domestic messengers, through which a video call took place. In the video, there was a person in uniform, showing an ID and introducing himself as an FSB employee.
«Then they said to take the money from the cash register, if I don«t do this, then, since the crime happened at the workplace, they will confiscate it. Military police will come to take this money. They said to take this money, leave the store, get into a taxi that was ordered for me,» the victim recalls.
The scammers started taking her to all the banks in the city, but they couldn«t get a loan: her bad credit history worked in her favor. Transferring the money taken from the cash register through an app also didn»t work — there was a nighttime mobile internet restriction.
«They sent me the address of a hostel. I spent the night there. They forbade me to communicate with my loved ones. Said that everything is being monitored. They sent some articles saying that this is a criminal offense. In the morning, a call came with instructions. Again, they sent me to ATMs,» Yekaterina said.
Following the scammers« instructions, she installed an app, transferred money through it, then reinstalled it and transferred again. They constantly guided her, demanding photo reports. When it became clear that nothing more could be gotten from the victim, the fraudsters switched to her relatives.
«About half a day passed, in the evening they write: “Go home and check your parents» accounts.” I called a taxi and contacted a friend. Then I read on social media that I had become a victim of scammers, and realized that this money was transferred to their accounts, not ‘declared’,» Yekaterina says.
Now the girl is ready to compensate for all the damage.
«I just tell people not to answer unknown numbers. Don«t fall for these conversations, hang up. I felt huge panic, fear. It»s better not to experience these feelings,» the victim shared.
«Currently, employees of the territorial police department are continuing the investigation into the incident, during which a legal assessment of the citizen«s actions will be given. She herself stated that she fully realized her mistake and is ready to compensate for the damage caused by her actions,» reported the Yekaterinburg City Police Department.
The police once again remind that scammers constantly change their methods of deceiving citizens. At the same time, it is necessary to emphasize that despite all the sophistication of the fraudsters, they can be countered with the simplest rules:
1. Do not talk to strangers on the phone;
2. Do not disclose any personal data and codes to outsiders;
3. Do not transfer or hand over money to unknown persons;
4. Personally double-check all information received by phone.
Read an important guide on what to do if your loved one has fallen under the influence of scammers. We collect everything about fraudsters« schemes in a separate topic.
We also published ten phrases that give away fraudsters. Upon hearing them, you should immediately hang up.
