Money in a shoebox and fake couriers: 88-year-old woman from Nizhny Novgorod was rescued from scammers

      Video screenshot of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Nizhny Novgorod Region

      Nizhny Novgorod police recovered pensioner’s money stolen by scammers. She handed over her savings to a courier in a shoebox. This was reported by the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

      Two young men from a neighboring region, aged 18 and 19, deceived an 88-year-old woman from Nizhny Novgorod. On July 11, police officers from the Nizhny Novgorod region, together with colleagues from Tatarstan, detained the scammers in Kazan. The stolen money was found in their car.

      It was uncovered that the 19-year-old had taken a job online — he was hired as a courier to collect money from people and pass it to others or transfer it to specific accounts. For such work, the accused received 10% of the stolen amount.

      The woman explained that she received a call from a man claiming to be a detective. He convinced her that she needed to help cancel a money transfer to an "unfriendly country" and to register her savings. She was persuaded to gather all her money and hand it over to the courier.

      Following the caller's instructions, the pensioner took the money in a shoebox and placed it in the car's trunk, where the offender was waiting. A criminal case was initiated based on the incident. The oldest of the detainees was sentenced to arrest, and his younger accomplice is now required to appear for investigative actions.