Former USSR military official swindled out of 50m rubles in an elaborate scam
Anatolij Mirenkow received a call from an imposter pretending to be the Deputy Minister of Defense. The fraudster informed the general of ongoing scams in Russia, where money was being stolen from people and funnelled to Ukraine, only to end up funding the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The imitation Deputy Minister and FSB agent
Reacting with apparent disbelief, Mirenkow unknowingly played into the scammers' ploy. Realising they had reeled him in, the fraudsters contacted him again using a different number and impersonated an FSB professional.
The scammers convinced the general that he was a victim of fraud and that his life savings were at risk. They counterfeited documents, imitating the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. As per these bogus papers, the general's accumulated funds were jeopardised.
The grifters repeatedly met with the military official, elaborating on the deception. Mirenkow, hoping to "rescue" his money, began to hand it over to the fraudsters. Retired military officer started to withdraw money from various banks and physically handed over bags full of notes. In just a few days, he lost 33 million rubles.
A week passed before he caught on
As a part of the elaborate ruse, one of the meetings took place at the Attorney General of the Russian Federation's premises and another at the Madagascar embassy's headquarters. Once the general had been tricked, his wife became the subsequent victim. Convinced that her money was at risk, she withdrew over 16 million rubles which was subsequently misappropriated.
By the time the general understood the gravity of his misstep, an entire week had passed. The couple ended up losing a total of 49.9 million rubles (around £559,000). The military officer reported the incident to law enforcement agencies, expressing his complete ignorance to such scams.
