The victim of a large-scale fraud was 86-year-old professor of Moscow State University, Doctor of Physics and Technology Yuri Pirogov, who donated almost 6 million rubles to the criminals.
The scheme was classic in Internet fraud: the professor received an email via WhatsApp in the name of the supposed rector of Moscow State University. Victor Sadovnichy, reporting that the university was conducting an audit of accounting employees who “incorrectly distributed funds.” After this, a “security officer” contacted Pirogov and convinced him to transfer all of the professor’s money savings to a “safe account.”
Three times the couriers came to the professor’s house, got into his car, said the password: “Bessel function”, took the money and left. The damage amounted to 5.8 million rubles.
According to law enforcement officials, both couriers, Stazhevsky and Mikhashchenko, both aged 18, have been detained.
