Two couriers working for telephone scammers have been apprehended in Yekaterinburg after allegedly stealing 2.3 million rubles from a pensioner. The men, both aged twenty, were caught after the victim reported the crime to the police.

The scheme began when the 77-year-old resident received a call from fraudsters who convinced him that his savings were at risk and needed to be declared to prevent theft or transfer to unfriendly countries. He was instructed to hand over the money to a “collector” who would come to his home.

The pensioner withdrew his savings from the bank, telling employees he needed the money for apartment repairs. He then gave portions of the money to two different couriers on separate days.

After realizing he had been scammed, the pensioner contacted the police, who apprehended the two couriers. One of the individuals came from Tambov, while the other traveled from Chita. Both confessed to stealing the money and stated that they had found the job online. Their role was to collect money and transfer it to accounts specified by the scammers, for which they were paid 10,000 rubles per task. One of the men admitted to acting at the behest of scammers and understanding that he was committing a crime.

Criminal cases have been initiated against the detainees under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, “Fraud on an especially large scale,” and they have been placed in pre-trial detention.