A woman from Nizhny Novgorod and her grandmother gave 7.8 million rubles to scammers for counterfeit banknotes.

      On May 28, 2026, at 10:08, Incidents: A schoolgirl and her grandmother lost 7.8 million rubles after handing it over to scammers in exchange for counterfeit bills in Nizhny Novgorod. This was reported by the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the region.

      The 18-year-old girl received calls and messages from unknown individuals posing as employees of a social fund, Roskomnadzor, and the FSB. The fraudsters convinced her of the necessity of "preserving and declaring" payments that had been sent to her grandmother for her deceased son.

      Over the course of a month, the victims met with "trusted persons" to hand over cash. Each time, the password "kindergarten" was mentioned, known only to the participants of the "case."

      Initially, the graduate handed over 50,000 rubles to an unknown woman on Komintern Street. Later, 45,000 rubles were returned to the grandmother, which allowed the scammers to gain their trust. After that, the fraudsters convinced the women to withdraw 7,842,000 rubles from the bank, pack the money in a sports bag, and hand it over to a stranger in an apartment.

      A few days later, the criminals contacted the victims again and arranged a meeting to return the "declared" funds. A young man handed the grandmother a bundle of bills wrapped in plastic. It later turned out that inside were 38 packs of souvenir banknotes.

      A criminal case has been initiated under part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud). Law enforcement is conducting an investigation and operational-search activities to identify the perpetrators.

      Earlier, we reported that an 82-year-old resident of Nizhny Novgorod gave scammers 16.7 million rubles using the password "sun-planet." NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" has channels on Telegram and MAX. Subscribe to stay updated on the main events, exclusive materials, and operational information. Copyright © 1999—2025 NIA "Nizhny Novgorod." When reprinting, a hyperlink to NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" is mandatory. This resource may contain materials 18+.