Beware of Scammers!
Theft of all forms of property remains the most common type of crime in our district. In an age of high technology, the development of the Internet, and people's addiction to social networks, new ways of stealing property are emerging.
For example, a group offering online loans on favorable terms friended a resident of our district center on "Odnoklassniki". During the correspondence, they specifically promised her 5,000 rubles, but under certain conditions. First, the scammers offered to pay a fee, then insurance. In total, within a short period, the resident of the district center transferred about 500 rubles to the scammers' foreign bank card. They, in turn, quickly covered their tracks – first, they blacklisted the victim, and then completely deleted their account.
Furthermore, the number of crimes related to hacking social media accounts has increased in the district, with such "hacked" accounts being used for property theft.
After hacking a social media account (user page), criminals send messages on behalf of the user to acquaintances, friends, and relatives, asking them to send the details indicated on their bank plastic cards. They justify the need to obtain card details by stating that their bank card has expired and they urgently need to receive money, or that the card is being reissued. The request to provide bank card details may also be hidden under another plausible pretext.
As explained by Andrei Starchenko, Prosecutor of Beshenkovichi District:
- Similar situations have already occurred with 2 residents of our district center, after which 108 and 65 rubles, respectively, were stolen from their bank cards. Criminal cases have been initiated for all instances of theft. However, the difficulty in identifying the perpetrators of such crimes lies in the fact that communication with the victim occurs virtually, and the criminals can be anywhere in the world, which complicates their search. Therefore, I would like to urge citizens not to fall for scammers' tricks, not to share bank card details through correspondence on social networks, even with close relatives, and especially not to transfer money.