Photographer in Rostov region accused of defrauding over 100 parents

More than a hundred people from Rostov, Bataysk, and the Myasnikovsky district paid photographer Tatyana from Chaltyr (name changed — Ed.) for graduation albums and photo shoots, but never received the finished work. Deadlines have been postponed for a year and a half. According to the victims« own estimates, the total damage exceeds 890,000 rubles (about $10,800 at current rates). The initiative group»s chat has grown to over a hundred people ready to seek justice.

«We»ve been waiting since March of last year«

Kindergarten graduation, the first bell, farewell to elementary school — these are moments you want to preserve. That«s why parents order graduation albums. That»s exactly what the heroes of this story did.

One of the victims, Anna, told 161.RU that she found the photographer through a recommendation in a common chat: Chaltyr is a small settlement, and many people know each other.

— Preparations for the kindergarten graduation began, and we started looking for a photographer. We were recommended: there«s a specialist, let»s contact her. We ordered several photo shoots, everything went well. But since March of last year, we«re still waiting for our albums, — the woman noted in an interview.

The money was collected through the parent committee: each family transferred its share to one responsible person, who then passed the total amount to the photographer. According to Anna, that«s when communication problems began.

— She only communicates with those who transferred the total amount from the class. She gets in touch with some, keeps putting them off: «Your layout is ready, it»s at the printers, it«ll be ready any moment.» And so a month passes, two, three, but no albums, — Anna comments.

No contract was signed with the photographer

Currently, the victims« chat includes representatives from at least 16 groups: kindergarten graduates, fourth-graders, and ninth-graders. They come from Rostov, Bataysk, Chaltyr, and Kalinin Khutor. The amounts paid to the photographer reach up to 111,000 rubles per group (about $1,350 at current rates).

The photographer also covered celebrations: weddings, birthdays, maternity shoots — victims from these events have also joined the effort. According to another victim, Elena (name changed — Ed.), the total damage already exceeds 890,000 rubles.

— There are those whose weddings and photo shoots disappeared. One girl shared that she had a photo session with Tatyana (name changed — Ed.) when her child turned one. That same child is now three years old, and the photos still haven«t arrived, — the woman noted.

The photographer never signed any written contracts. According to the victims, money was transferred via bank transfers and cash, and the only proof consists of transfer receipts within parent chats.

«We»re crazy because we want to get the albums«

When waiting times exceeded six months, then a year, the photographer«s tone changed. Several of 161.RU»s interlocutors describe it the same way: rudeness, accusations, and attempts to make the clients out to be at fault.

— The rude behavior goes like this: supposedly we«re some kind of crazy parents. Tatyana (name changed — Ed.) aggressively asks: »Why do you even need these photo albums? You«ll just put them on a shelf, and they»ll gather dust, and you«re driving me crazy, you can»t wait calmly.« We»re the nuts, because we want to get our children«s albums after paying for them, — Anna recounts the conversations.

Another victim, Maya, who ordered albums for a fourth-grade class, recalls a similar dialogue:

— In response to our complaints, she asked what we even wanted from her. She put it this way: «It»s not food, not water, just two thousand per person.« Then she started making excuses that she hadn»t killed anyone, so she wasn«t to blame, and there was nothing sacred about us because we were bothering her.

According to Maya, when parents went to the photographer«s home after another missed deadline, she spoke very bluntly.

— She said that to anyone who takes any action — filing complaints with the prosecutor«s office or the police — she would deliberately retaliate: either destroy the albums or hand them out last, — Maya relays the photographer»s words.

«We begged her to give it back — she didn»t«

Among the stories the victims tell, there are tragic ones. In one kindergarten group, a boy died after graduation: according to Anna, cancer was suddenly discovered.

— We asked her to give that album to the family. Begged her. She didn«t give it.

In another group, according to the same source, a child«s mother died in a car accident. Parents again asked her to give at least one copy of the album to relatives.

— We also asked, other mothers went there: «Give the photos to the relatives.» At least one album. No, absolutely no emotion. First she«s sick, then her son is in the hospital, but meanwhile other mothers see her — she»s sitting in a restaurant, everything«s fine with her, — Anna fumes.

Sochi instead of the printing house

While parents wait for their albums, Tatyana (name changed — Ed.), according to them, is spending time at a resort.

— She«s in Sochi now. Sunbathing, she posted photos of herself tanning and »building patience in us,« as she wrote, — Anna says indignantly.

Irina, another victim who once recommended Tatyana (name changed — Ed.) to parents at her own kindergarten, recalls what the photographer used to be like:

— I knew her. She was a normal person, open, kind. I never even thought something like this could happen, — Irina wonders.

The source admits there had been a warning sign — Tatyana delayed her first photo shoot by two months. «But I didn»t think it would stretch to a year,« she noted.

According to her, whenever parents reminded her, the answer was always the same.

— She always said: «In two weeks.» Time passes — same thing. More time — same thing. I start getting angry. And she says: «You»re heartless, what is this? I have such a problem, and you... Why are you writing and calling me? Why do you even need these albums right now?« — the woman said.

When Irina anonymously posted about her situation on social media, the photographer reacted immediately:

— Tatyana wrote to me right away: «How dare you drag my name through the mud? I treated you with all my heart!»

«I»m not saying I won«t give them. I just don»t say when«

Maya says that at some point she contacted the photographer«s assistant and heard an unexpected confession: storage space on the drive isn»t infinite, and to cover old debts, Tatyana (name changed — Ed.) has to take on new shoots while getting rid of old files.

— So what exactly she got rid of, nobody knows, — the woman shared with us.

The phrase Maya quotes from memory from a since-deleted correspondence: «I»m not refusing. I«m not saying I won»t give them to you. I just don«t say when.»

Collective appeal to the prosecutor«s office

The first police reports were filed back in December 2025 with the Myasnikovsky District Department of Internal Affairs. In January 2026, victims turned to the district prosecutor«s office. However, according to them, no measures have been taken.

In desperation, the group hired a lawyer and is preparing a collective appeal to the Rostov Region prosecutor«s office.

— The lawyer explained that we need to gather absolutely all receipts — how parents transferred amounts to the parent committee. All these receipts need to be collected and provided as separate printouts, — Maya explains.

Anna clarifies that last week an application signed by about 40 people was sent to the prosecutor«s office.

One of the victims posted a video on social media describing the situation. According to 161.RU«s sources, the photographer responded with threats: she allegedly filed a defamation complaint against the author of the post and tried to obtain her phone number through shared photographer chats.

The victims are determined, yet some parents, according to Irina, are still hesitating:

— She«s told several groups that she»ll hand over the albums any moment now. And people are already thinking: «Well, if we go further, we»ll quarrel with her, and she won«t give us the albums. But if we back off now, she promised to give them.» People are ready to wait and wait.

Currently, the initiative group is gathering evidence: transfer receipts, screenshots of correspondence, voice messages. All of this will form the basis of a collective application to the Rostov prosecutor«s office and the court.

— We won«t get our money back, but at least we need to stop this. People shouldn»t go to her, — Maya says. — In Chaltyr, she no longer has shoots, so she«s moved to Rostov. There, she»ll have a wider audience.

Earlier, 161.RU reported on Rostov volunteer Amalia Erashova, who gave nearly 100,000 rubles to a fraudster who convinced her the money would go to animal foster care and treatment.