In May, a 45-year-old man met a woman on a dating app. The acquaintance suggested investing in cryptocurrency, promising stable returns. At first, the man refused the offer but later changed his mind. In early summer, the new acquaintance connected the resident of Ugolnye Kopi with a person who introduced himself as an investment specialist.
This person explained the principle of earning on digital assets: one must buy cryptocurrency at the start of its rise and sell at the peak price. The man was persuaded to install an application on his smartphone that mimicked the operation of a real crypto exchange.
"To lull the victim's vigilance, the criminals first allowed him to invest small amounts—from 1,000 to 10,000 rubles—and supposedly receive income. When the victim invested 50,000 rubles, the promised profit did not arrive. Then a scammer contacted him and stated that due to an error in the transfer, the money was blocked, and law enforcement representatives might come to him," said Chukotka police officers.
After the message about the blocked funds, the scheme organizers offered the resident of Ugolnye Kopi to "settle the situation" and transfer them additional money. In total, the victim made ten transfers to various bank accounts. The last transfer amounted to 500,000 rubles.
In the end, the man realized he had encountered scammers, stopped communication, deleted the installed application, and contacted the police. A criminal case has been initiated.
Earlier, a resident of Kyzyl in the Republic of Tuva lost 5.5 million rubles after attempting to earn from cryptocurrency investments. According to police, the man received the majority of these funds from the sale of his own apartment.
