Scammers scared Belarusian girl with military drones
Scammers scared a 12-year-old Minsk schoolgirl with a story about military drones and forced her to hand over about 13,000 rubles of her parents' savings. The incident was reported by the Main Internal Affairs Directorate of the Minsk City Executive Committee.
Illustrative image. Photo: Anton Petrus / Getty Images
The girl's father contacted the police. It all started when an unknown person wrote to her in a messenger, allegedly wanting to get acquainted, and then asked her to send her geolocation.
The schoolgirl complied with the request. About an hour later, she received a call from a person who identified himself as a police officer. He stated that the geolocation tag had crossed the border, military drones could soon fly to those coordinates, and the girl herself was suspected of treason. Another alleged police officer then joined the conversation. He promised to guarantee the family's safety in exchange for cooperation.
The frightened schoolgirl photographed all the money that was at home, and then, using a code phrase, handed over about 13,000 rubles in equivalent to a courier. After this, the attackers demanded that she photograph all the jewelry in the apartment. The next day, when the girl had calmed down a bit, she suspected a trick and told her parents everything.
Detectives found out that the courier was a 17-year-old student from a Minsk school. She herself had previously fallen victim to scammers: an unknown person called her in a messenger and accused her of involvement in terrorist activities. Under threats, the girl was forced to collect money from several teenagers. As a result, she ended up with four packages of money, which she handed over to another minor.
A criminal case has been initiated regarding the incident.