Conman posing as lawyer dupes Russian man into funding Bitcoin wallet

A 62-year-old resident of Ust-Ilimsk was twice targeted by fraudsters in a bid to earn money and recover stolen funds, according to the local police.

In January 2020, after a phone conversation with a ‘broker’, the pensioner agreed to a supplemental income on the stock market.

He transferred a small amount to the manager who allegedly supervised the purchase of securities and oil. The growing balance convinced the victim of the success of the trades.

During February 2020, the Ust-Ilimsk resident transferred more than 580,000 rubles to the brokerage account from personal savings and borrowed money.

Under the terms of the agreement, the agent was to receive half of the amount. When the ‘profit’ reached 812,000 rubles, the scammers persuaded the victim to transfer half of the remuneration early.

The applicant pawned a car at a pawnshop and, via an electronic wallet, transferred 200,000 rubles to the perpetrators. The ‘brokers’ did not contact him again.

In an attempt to recover the money, the pensioner found a legal firm on social media that promised to help him.

To pay for the services, the ‘lawyer’ asked him to create a cryptocurrency wallet and fund it with 96,000 rubles. Then the Ust-Ilimsk resident additionally transferred 378,000 rubles, borrowed, for opening a bank account, arranging insurance contributions, and paying a ‘fine’ to the currency fund.

After a month, the money had not returned to the account and the pensioner realised he had fallen victim to scammers. The loss exceeded 1 million rubles.

The police opened a case of fraud.

Earlier, a resident of the Ul\’yanovsk region became a victim of scammers who handed over 1.2 million rubles for the promise of earnings in cryptocurrency.

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