More than 20 Irkutsk residents became victims of a phone scammer

In Irkutsk, police detained a phone scammer who at night called people and said their relatives had supposedly caused a crash. Frightened victims, mostly elderly, gave him money to save loved ones from liability. Police do not rule out more than 20 victims. The detainee is now being checked for other crimes, and his accomplice from Novosibirsk is already in custody.

In Irkutsk, a phone scammer was caught. More than 20 people fell victim to him. As reported by the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Irkutsk Region, the 49-year-old Irkutsk resident operated using a "well-worn" scheme - at night he called home landlines and reported an accident allegedly caused by a relative of the apartment owners.
Frightened people gave the scammer money to help their "daughter" or "brother" avoid responsibility for the traffic accident. A large share of the fraudster's victims were elderly people. For example, an 87-year-old woman, believing the scammer, gave him 50,000 rubles.
Police do not rule out that more than 20 people may have fallen victim to the scammer. At present, police are checking the detained man for involvement in other crimes. Police also said that the scammer's accomplice - a resident of Novosibirsk - is currently in custody.