The student was detained after police collected twelve statements from fraud victims. This information comes from the press office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Komi Republic.
It began when a resident of Syktyvkar reported that a friend proposed a chance to purchase well-known electronics at a discount of 50 percent. The resident handed over 818 thousand rubles to a young man born in 2002 who was studying at a local university. Soon after, eleven additional similar stories emerged, and the teenager was taken into custody as victims alleged misappropriation of funds.
In these cases, victims transferred varying amounts to buy mobile phones, televisions, and other household appliances at unusually low prices. The detained individual also claimed to have the means to meet all obligations, while knowing he would fail to do so. He repeatedly sought out people eager to save money and easily convinced them of the apparent profitability of the deal.
According to the department, the total amount stolen in this manner exceeded 4 million rubles. He remains in custody, and twelve criminal cases have been opened against him under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which covers fraud.
Additionally, it has been reported that a teacher from Moscow fell victim to the same scheme and lost 3.5 million rubles.