Phone scammers accidentally call a prosecutor, 80 year-old woman detained

The District Prosecutor's Office in Varna detained an 80-year-old woman who was involved in a telephone fraud attempt at a prosecutor. Veselinka R. was detained for 72 hours after she went to collect money requested by telephone fraudsters who had called the District Prosecutor's Office.

The case started with a call from a person claiming to be a doctor who tried to trick the prosecutor that her daughter had a car accident and explained that gold nails were used in a life-saving operation of the wounded grl. The scammer called from a Romanian mobile number and threatened that if he did not receive 30,000 euros, he would send a gang of 15 people to the mother.

The scheme also involved a person who claimed to be a police officer who played the "good cop" and promised assistance to the threatened, who accidentally happened to be a prosecutor, explained by the Appellate Prosecutor's Office in Varna.

All the action took place between 10.00 and 18.30, with the fraudsters seemingly confused the phone in the prosecutor's office with a home number and so they appeared to be at the focus of a police operation.

An elderly woman was sent to collect the money, which by orders of the telephone scammers had be thrown out from the balcony of the victim of the telephone fraud.

After several conversations, threats and demands that all the money available in the victim's bank account should be withdrawn, for which the fraudsters allegedly had information from a bank employee, the amount for the gold nails was reduced to 6,830 BGN. An envelope with bank brochures, imitating a bunch of money, was placed in the bag.

The elderly woman, who was talking on a mobile phone with the fraudsters all the time, came to the address. They were directing her where to look for the bag with the money.

The police expected the elderly woman in the place.

In the search of her home, the police found 500 BGN and belongings from another phone fraud, carried out on the territory of the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Devnya with her participation.

In the last three weeks, five phone fraudsters have been identified in Varna, three of whom are already in custody.

From November to the end of January, the criminal activity of phone fraudsters was investigated in 16 pre-trial proceedings. The total amount of fraud is over BGN 80,000.