Former USSR military official and wife defrauded of 50 million rubles by elaborate scam

Anatolij Mirenkow received a deceptive call from a man posing as the Deputy Minister of Defense. The man informed the general that in Russia, fraudsters were currently fleecing citizens and wiring the stolen funds to Ukraine; the Ukrainian Armed Forces then appropriated these funds.

Upon receiving this news, Mirenkow was reportedly disturbed. The swindlers, having realized that the general had taken their bait, contacted him again using a different number – this time, it was a sham FSB worker on the line.

The fraudsters duped the general into believing he was a scam victim and his savings were at risk. They also produced counterfeit documents, posing as the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. The false papers suggested that all the funds amassed by the general were under threat.

The conmen met with the military official multiple times, painting a picture for him of the alleged fraud. Hoping to "protect" his money, Mirenkow handed it to the swindlers. The retired military officer withdrew large sums from different banks and delivered bags of cash to the fraudsters. In just a few days, he parted with 33 million rubles.

In a humorous twist, one of these meetings took place at the Office of the Attorney General of the Russian Federation and another at the Madagascar embassy's headquarters. Once the general had been duped, his wife fell victim next. The fraudsters persuaded her to withdraw over 16 million rubles from her account, which she transferred to the thieves.

By the time the general grasped his mistake, an entire week, he had slipped by. Altogether, the couple lost 49.9 million rubles (about $674,645). The military officer alerted the authorities and confessed that he "was unaware of such cons".