A resident of Yekaterinburg became a dropper in response to the request of "volunteers of the SVO."

      A resident of Yekaterinburg became an involuntary dropper and a defendant in a lawsuit after trusting a video she saw online about recruiting volunteers to help soldiers in the special military operation (SMO).

      In February 2025, an individual entrepreneur from Chita transferred 320,000 rubles to a safe account after receiving a call from a fake employee of the Central Bank. The money went to a card belonging to a certain Ramina O.

      The fraudster convinced the man that his savings were in danger and needed to be urgently transferred. The businessman followed the instructions. On the same day, he realized he had fallen victim to a scam and contacted the police.

      Investigators opened a criminal case for large-scale fraud (part 3 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and identified the owner of the account to which the Chita resident transferred his funds. The card belonged to a resident of Yekaterinburg.

      The victim filed a civil lawsuit in the Leninsky District Court of Yekaterinburg to recover unjust enrichment from the cardholder.

      In court, the defendant explained that she saw videos online about recruiting volunteers to help soldiers in the SMO and decided to leave her contact information. Someone named Mikhail wrote to her. He explained that his card had reached its transfer limit and asked Ramina to lend her card for continuing the collection of humanitarian aid for SMO participants. The girl agreed and handed the card to a courier who came to her home.

      The judge, having studied the materials of the criminal case and the testimonies of witnesses, concluded that the responsibility for what happened lies with the account owner.

      "The defendant voluntarily provided her bank card to a third party, thereby transferring the right to manage her bank account. The transfer of the card to other persons does not terminate the bank account agreement, and the defendant's relationships with third parties cannot affect the legal consequences regarding the plaintiff," the court's decision stated.

      Since there were no contractual relationships between the parties and they were not even acquainted, the amount received by the defendant was recognized as unjust enrichment.

      The Leninsky District Court fully satisfied the claim: it ordered Ramina O. to pay 320,000 rubles to the Chita resident, as well as a state duty of 10,500 rubles. The court's decision has not yet come into legal force.