An 18-year-old resident of the Kemerovo region, already in pre-trial detention for a similar offense, now faces an additional charge of large-scale fraud after allegedly stealing 9.6 million rubles from an 84-year-old St. Petersburg resident.

The pensioner, from the Kirovsky district of St. Petersburg, reported the theft to the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region on June 6, stating that he handed the cash to a courier following months of telephone conversations with unidentified individuals.

Police investigation revealed the young man as the individual who collected the money.

Reportedly, the victim is a scientist-biologist who studied Arctic ecosystems, including work at an international biological station on Franz Josef Land.

Scammers initially contacted him in January, claiming his contract with a service provider had expired. Subsequently, someone posing as a pension fund employee warned him that imposters were calling under the guise of the provider.

The scammers also discovered that the pensioner had nearly 900,000 rubles in his accounts.

The St. Petersburg resident was then manipulated into believing he was cooperating with an FSB officer to apprehend fraudsters. He withdrew his savings and gave them to a courier.

In February, he handed over an additional 8.7 million rubles, obtained from the sale of his apartment, due to coercion from a voice on the phone.

The Department for Combating Illegal Use of Information and Communication Technologies of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region has launched an official Telegram channel called “Leningrad Cyber-Guard” to combat these scams. The channel shares videos of criminal arrests, detailed analyses of fraud schemes, and advice on protecting against cyber threats.