The individual explained that in January of last year, he had met a woman on a messaging app who later informed him of lucrative opportunities in the cryptocurrency market. Intrigued, the victim followed the links provided to him by supposed “brokers” and registered on various platforms.
After making cryptocurrency purchases and transferring them to the wallets of these so-called “investment platforms”, he began receiving interest on his investments. Encouraged by these returns, he even went so far as to take out a loan from the bank and send more money to the scammers. In total, he invested approximately 65,000 Belarusian rubles. However, when he checked his accounts a month later, he discovered that his wallets were empty and the accounts of the girl and the “broker representatives” had been blocked.
Law enforcement authorities in Minsk are now working to identify the individuals responsible for the scam. A criminal case has been initiated under Article 209, section 4 (fraud on an exceptional scale) of the Republic of Belarus Criminal Code.
Interestingly, just last October, another Minsk resident nearly lost $40,000 in a similar cryptocurrency purchase.