A girl was detained in Yekaterinburg for taking millions from pensioners.

      In Yekaterinburg, employees of the criminal investigation department of police station No. 6 detained a local resident suspected of participating in a fraudulent scheme to steal money from elderly citizens. Photo: The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the city of Yekaterinburg

      The reason for the investigation was a transaction involving the sale of a Renault Duster car. A businessman engaged in car resale contacted the police. He became suspicious when a pensioner sold the car at a significantly undervalued price. Additionally, immediately after the transaction, the man handed the proceeds to an unknown girl who appeared at the sale location. The businessman called the police. Arriving officers detained the suspect and seized 700,000 rubles from her, which the pensioner received from the sale of the car.

      In the police station, the girl stated that she got a job as a courier through a job advertisement posted online. According to her, the "employers" instructed her to collect money from various people and pass it on to other participants in the scheme. The detainee claims she was convinced she was working for an insurance company. The girl's phone contained correspondence with a curator who maintained a trusting communication with her, sending jokes and GIFs. She also signed a printed employment contract.

      As the police discovered, the affected pensioner and his wife had been transferring and handing over cash to the fraudsters for a long time, believing they were sending funds to "safe accounts" of the Central Bank. The total damage exceeded 3.5 million rubles. After their savings ran out, the criminals convinced the couple to sell their car. A criminal case has been initiated against the detainee under the article "Fraud on a particularly large scale."