In Zlatoust, a woman fell victim to a scam that promised to extend the validity of her SIM card and ended up losing nearly half a million rubles. The incident was reported by a Telegram channel calling itself Emergency News Agency, which circulated details about the scheme to alert other readers.
The Telegram report explains that the scammers posed as employees of the woman’s mobile operator. They contacted her with a credible, professional air and claimed that her SIM card’s validity needed to be extended to avoid service disruption. Trusting the apparent authority of the operators, the woman supplied information that the fraudsters requested, believing she was simply following routine security procedures to keep her mobile service uninterrupted.
Once the scammers had the necessary information, they moved to the next phase of their deception. They persuaded the woman to apply for large loans, arguing that acquiring new credit would somehow neutralize her existing credit risks or improve her credit score. The target believed this justification and proceeded with the loan applications, likely under the impression that the loans would be safeguarded by the operator’s purported instruction or alignment with her account status.
Following the loan approvals, the bank transferred almost 500,000 rubles to the attackers. The transaction appeared legitimate to the victim and went through without triggering immediate fraud alerts. By the time the realization struck, the money had already left the legitimate channel and the bank was unable to reverse the transfer or identify the source of the fraud through conventional means. The scene underscores how quickly a con can escalate when an unsuspecting customer is led to believe in the authority of a familiar institution and complies with requests that seem procedural and safe.
Law enforcement authorities have opened an investigation into the Zlatoust case. Specific details about the suspects, the precise timeline, and the methods used to execute the fraud have not been disclosed publicly. The ongoing inquiry aims to trace the money trail, identify any accomplices, and determine how the deception was orchestrated from end to end. Given the evolving nature of these scams, investigators continue to collect witness statements, review call and messaging records, and examine the bank’s security protocols to prevent similar incidents in the future.
In addition to this incident, there have been reports of other fraud attempts in different regions, including a prior case in the Urals where a bank employee allegedly deceived a number of retirees about owing debts. That older scenario highlights recurring patterns in social engineering: scammers exploit trust in trusted institutions, manipulate perceptions of legitimacy, and push targets toward actions that benefit the criminals rather than the victims. Authorities stress that any request to modify account details, approve new loans, or perform unusual transfers should be treated with heightened scrutiny. People are urged to verify any unsolicited contact by contacting the service provider directly using official channels, rather than replying to messages or calls that arrive unexpectedly.