A criminal case against a group of defendants has been sent to court. According to the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia, scammers stole 1.073 billion drams – approximately $2.95 million – from 59 citizens. To deceive them, they used WhatsApp and Viber, creating accounts with the names and photos of well-known individuals.
Afterward, the perpetrators contacted relatives, acquaintances, and other people from the victims' circles. They reported alleged problems with state bodies and introduced themselves as employees of the National Security Service or the Central Bank of Armenia.
As a result, victims were persuaded to transfer money under various pretexts, after which the funds were stolen. The scale of the damage was significant: on average, each victim lost about 18 million drams, or almost $50,000.