Tiraspol, May 13 – Law enforcement officers of unrecognized Transnistria stopped the criminal activities of a group of local residents who extorted money from the Russian population through Internet resources, reports the press service of the PMR Investigative Committee.
“The main investigative department of the Transnistrian Investigative Committee is investigating a criminal case related to several facts related to extortion of money from residents of the Russian Federation via the Internet,” the report says.
It is noteworthy that the defendants in the criminal case are three residents of Tiraspol, between the ages of 25 and 30.
And it was established that, in a group with several other people not identified by the investigation, in the period from 2021 to April 2023, through video chats on the Internet, they established contacts with the population of Russia, namely with young people and young men. Using a fake female image, superimposed with a pornographic video, they communicated with them of an erotic nature in real time. Photo and video recordings were made without notice and without their consent. Then, through the fake pages on the social network, they demanded money from the Russian Federation from 15 to 20 thousand rubles from the victims, threatening to publish information discrediting them. The victims were forced to pay the required amounts to the attackers through wire transfer services.
The press service stated that 10 people are being dealt with as victims in the case at this stage. It was also established that a 15-year-old boy was driven to suicide by criminal acts of Internet extortion.
So far, the defendants in the criminal case have been charged under Article 159 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China (extortion committed by a group of persons with prior agreement). Two of them have been held since April this year. In their actions, the investigation sees signs of a number of other criminal acts.
To date, investigative measures are being carried out with the aim of expanding the circle of victims and identifying all accomplices of the criminal group. The press service added that after collecting the necessary evidence base, a legal assessment will be made of the actions of each of them and a final fee will be charged.
