The key facts

  • An 80-year-old resident of Yakutia believed a 'call from the FSB' and for a month handed over money and gold to scammers
  • The damage is estimated at 19.5 million rubles
  • A criminal case has been opened for fraud on an especially large scale

Pensioner handed over his savings and gold to fraudsters for a month

In Yakutia, an 80-year-old research fellow fell victim to phone scammers and lost savings and gold worth a total of 19.5 million rubles. This was reported by the republic's MVD Directorate; the outlet Gazeta.Ru citing the agency describes the details of the incident (https://www.gazeta.ru/social/news/2026/11/06/29686717.shtml).

How the scheme unfolded

Unknown callers contacted the pensioner posing as law enforcement officers: the caller introduced himself as an FSB officer and persuaded him to hand over all his money. Over the course of a month, the man gave the fraudsters cash and gold. A criminal case has been opened on fraud on an especially large scale.

Similar cases

Gazeta.Ru also recalls other recent episodes: in Ust-Ilimsk, a pensioner lost 26 million rubles and nearly handed over six million more to scammers — police had to persuade the woman to stop communicating with the fraudsters. In St. Petersburg, a young woman lost 3.7 million rubles while trying to exchange currency.