Boom of telephone scams in Silistrensko. The scenario of the fraudsters most often involves huge debts to the energy company and the help of the police to expose the “alo” fraudsters. There are more than 30 reports of telephone scams received by the police in the Danube city. Three pre-trial proceedings have been instituted, the so-called “mules", but they have not been detained because the work on the pre-trial proceedings continues.
What is new in the schemes of telephone fraudsters are the threats of physical suicide with their victims, Nova TV specifies.
Threats, manipulations and lies. “Hello” scammers are stepping up. This was told by a woman who witnessed an attempted fraud and threats to her neighbor. The fraud was prevented by the old woman's son, but “alo” the fraudsters became more and more daring, their victims share.
„They share that they are threatened with physical suicide, with suicide with the family, with the children”, says Pesho Petrov, head of the sector “Combating criminal crime” in ODMVR-Silistra.
Mila Petrova said that she herself was about to become a victim of the phone fraudsters, but she knows how to react and although she was shocked at the first moment, she did not get caught in the trap “They used the authority of the police. They said my daughter had an accident. I was with my son at home and I asked him to call my daughter”, says Mila Petrova.
„ From the middle of September to the present moment, we have prevented 30 such cases,” explained inspector Anelia Dobreva. However, there are 3-4 scams that have succeeded.
There was also a new scheme – unpaid electricity bill.
„The fraudsters in the initial call say they are employees of the energy company and the citizen in question owes huge sums to pay. On the next call, the scammer says it's “hello” fraudsters and the sums in question must be secured so that the police officer can detain them”, explained Pesho Petrov.
The authors of “alo” scams operating from Romania. None of them have been caught, but there are helpers caught, or the so-called "mules", who accepted the money from the victims and took it across the border. The targets were mainly pensioners, and the largest amount transferred was over BGN 40,000.
A nationwide campaign is being launched in an effort to crack down on phone scams. In Silistra, the efforts of the uniformed are aimed at the small settlements, where they talk to the mayors and hold discussions in the pensioners' clubs.