A call about an intercom cost a woman in Komi 5.5 million rubles

It started with a call about an intercom. It ended with 5.5 million rubles gone. Police in Russia's Komi Republic have opened a fraud case after a 65-year-old woman fell for a multi-step scam.

What happened?

The woman went to the police, regional interior ministry officials said. She told them someone claiming to be from her building management company had called. The caller asked for the digits from a text message, supposedly to reconfigure the building's intercom.

Then a second caller got in touch. He said he was from the FSB (Russia's security service). According to him, the code she had shared had let someone hack her Gosuslugi account (Russia's government services portal). He claimed a request had been filed to send her savings to a terrorist organisation.

How did the scammers keep her hooked?

The fake officer offered a way out: declare her money by moving it to a special "safe account". He told her to buy a new phone and install several apps. One of them tracked her movements.

He also ordered her to tell nobody and threatened her with criminal prosecution if she did.

Using an ATM, she made 27 transfers to unknown accounts, totalling 4.5 million rubles. The scammers did not stop there. They persuaded her to repay an unauthorised loan with a new one, promising the money would be returned once the investigation ended.

What's next?

Police have opened a criminal case under Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code, which covers fraud. The scheme follows a familiar pattern: a harmless-sounding first call, then a fake official, then pressure and secrecy. If someone asks for a code from a text message, or tells you to keep a call secret, that is your cue to hang up.