A 19-year-old courier from Kazakhstan has been detained in Yekaterinburg for allegedly stealing 1.5 million rubles from a 76-year-old woman through a telephone scam. The suspect reportedly traveled across Russia, collecting money for scammers, and had previously operated in his home country.

The man was apprehended after allegedly defrauding the pensioner using the “Your relative was in an accident” scheme. The fraudsters contacted the woman, claiming her daughter caused an accident and demanded payment to avoid criminal charges. After handing over the cash, the woman contacted her daughter and discovered she had been scammed.

The courier was found later the same day at a computer club, awaiting further instructions from his online handlers. He confessed to transferring the stolen money to the fraud organizers via a crypto exchanger, keeping 40,000 rubles for himself. He claimed debt and microloans drove him to commit the crime.

Currently in custody, the man faces up to 10 years in prison for “Fraud on a particularly large scale”.

Police reported that over 10 million rubles had been fraudulently obtained from citizens in the past week. In response, law enforcement launched a large-scale raid on June 21 and 22, involving approximately 400 officers, to educate residents about common fraud methods and prevention. The raid focused on the Oktyabrsky and Ordzhonikidzevsky districts.