Scammers cheated Nizhny Novgorod residents out of nearly 84 million rubles in a week.

      December 25, 2025 06:15 Incidents

      Over the past week, police registered 95 crimes committed using various fraud schemes in the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod region. This was reported by the regional directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

      The most common ruse remains calls allegedly from bank security services — 50 crimes were recorded using this scheme. Another 18 cases were related to fraud during online purchases, and 10 involved offers of additional earnings. Other methods of deceiving citizens were also used.

      In total, the damage caused by the perpetrators amounted to nearly 84 million rubles.

      For example, a teacher from Gorodets received a message in a messenger app in early October 2025 that was allegedly sent by the school administration. It stated the need to verify personal data on the public services portal as part of the digitalization of employee records. The woman followed the instructions and received further directions with contacts, through which she was told that a general power of attorney for disposing of property and a loan of 1 million rubles had been issued in her name.

      To "cancel" the loan, the complainant was asked to re-register her personal account after first depositing funds. Under constant psychological pressure, the woman transferred money to the accounts specified by the fraudsters for more than a month. As a result, using her own savings and borrowed funds, she lost 4,890,000 rubles without suspecting she had become a victim of a crime.

      Another case involved a 41-year-old resident of Nizhny Novgorod. In a popular messenger app she received a message about the sale of a Christmas tree. After discussing the terms of the deal, the woman transferred 12,100 rubles via a banking app to the specified account. After receiving the money, the "seller" stopped responding, and the buyer turned to the police.

      A resident of Arzamas received a call from unknown people who introduced themselves as employees of an investment company. They convinced the woman of the possibility of quick earnings on the stock market through investments in cryptocurrency. Following the callers' instructions, the victim transferred 173,000 rubles to the specified accounts, of which 135,000 rubles were taken out as a loan from a financial institution.

      After the transfers the woman awaited further instructions and the promised profit, but contact with her was cut off. Realizing she had been deceived, she sought help from law enforcement agencies.

      Earlier it was reported that a resident of Kstovo lost 13 million rubles after a call about replacing electricity meters.

      Read here about the tricks scammers use to hypnotize their victims.

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