Sochi scam courier arrested as victim turned FSB accomplice

Scammers kept a 74-year-old resident of the Lazarevsky district of Sochi in fear for a whole month. On their instructions, she withdrew small amounts of cash from her accounts and handed it over to a courier. Bank employees suspected that the client might be under the influence of scammers and reported it to the police. However, the pensioner refused to believe the bank staff and police. She was convinced by «employees of special services and the Central Bank of Russia». And she also trusted the courier who collected the money. As a result, the woman gave the scammers over 2.2 million rubles (approximately $24,400 at current rates).

Operatives identified and detained a 61-year-old courier who was constantly in contact with the pensioner, collected money from her, and transferred it to the fraudsters« accounts.

It turned out that the suspect himself fell into the hands of scammers using a classic scheme — «employees of the FSB (Federal Security Service)» called and informed that a money transfer to Ukraine had been made in his name. He was forced to withdraw money from all his accounts, take an «oath» via video call, and start «cooperating with special services» — to help another victim woman save her money.

As a result, the Sochi resident not only lost all his savings but also turned from a victim of scammers into their accomplice. A criminal case has been initiated under Part 4 of Article 159 «Fraud». The man faces up to 10 years in prison, according to the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Krasnodar Krai.