Crypto scammers lured 22 million rubles from a Moscow pensioner

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The criminals lured a 73-year-oldMuscovite money, allegedly for investment in cryptocurrencies, and also deprived him of living space in the center of the capital. The total damage from fraudulent activities amounted to 22 million rubles.

According to a RIA source familiar withincident, on July 9, a pensioner contacted the capital’s law enforcement agencies. In the statement, he indicated that he received a call in January with an offer to invest in digital assets. An elderly man believed the scammers and invested more than 10,000 euros. After some time, the criminal called again and said that his investments had increased to $180,000. However, in order to cash them out, he needed to invest an additional 6 million rubles. 

The man did not have that kind of money.The scammer invited the pensioner to connect him with an entrepreneur and realtor he knew. The first will allegedly provide the missing amount as security for real estate in the center of Moscow, and the second will help to prepare the necessary documents for the apartment. Then the pensioner was contacted by another scammer who called himself a realtor. He gave contacts of an entrepreneur who is ready to transfer the missing amount to withdraw money.

“The entrepreneur told the pensioner thatwill be able to transfer him the necessary amount. To do this, the applicant had to sign an agreement. Later the man found out that his apartment had been re-registered to a new owner. The total damage amounted to 22 million rubles, the police are conducting an investigation,” the source said.

Let us remind you that in April, fraudsters stolethree Muscovites 17.7 million rubles. The victims tried to buy cryptocurrencies with this money, but never received any digital assets. In 2021, a 50-year-old resident of Yoshkar-Ola encountered scammers and lost 800,000 rubles while investing in cryptocurrencies.