The lawyer warned the Russians about the emergence of a new fraudulent scheme in messengers

The thieves pretend to be employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

Russians are regularly victims of phone scams, the types of which are becoming more and more sophisticated. So, recently another scheme has appeared when citizens are contacted via instant messengers, for example, Viber or WhatsApp, they introduce themselves as employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and report that a criminal case has been opened on the fact of forgery of documents, as Ivan Solovyov, an honored lawyer of Russia, said.

In conversation with Prime agency Solovyov explained that the Russians receive calls in messengers, where a female voice gives the full name of a person, and then introduces herself as an employee of the inquiry department of one of the regional departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. After that, as the lawyer noted, the “pseudo-employee” notifies the citizen that a criminal case has been opened on the fact of forgery of documents, asking who he is with someone with the same surname, but a different name and patronymic.

According to the specialist, the victim’s last name is kept to attract attention and provoke concern, while the first and middle names are fictitious. The lawyer added that the attacker further reports that the suspects forged and presented to the bank a power of attorney on behalf of the citizen to withdraw cash and apply for a loan. Solovyov stressed that it becomes interesting for a person who is trying to encroach on his funds through a fake power of attorney, calling himself his relative.

Then the fraudster asks to verify the data provided by the “criminal with the real financial information of the citizen” in order to clarify information that is significant for the investigation, the lawyer said. Further development of events, according to the expert, depends on the fright and gullibility of the victim, since confidential information can be extracted from her to commit fraud, or a request may be made to transfer money to a safe account or help the investigation in the form of participation in operational activities.

In all three cases, as Solovyov noted, the citizen loses financial resources. The lawyer urged to remember that a call on a messenger is a clear sign of fraud, since law enforcement officers do not call Russians and do not offer to “verify personal data” or participate in investigative actions.

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